Two Weeks
by nannygirl
Summary: After not being in the same room for years, the gang gathers at The Forman house when someone dear to them falls ill. How much can really happen in just two weeks? A story that includes everyone!
1. Preview

_**Disclaimer: **I own nothing! Not That 70's Show or the characters or anything form there. I also don't own the song used in this preview titled 'Landslide' that belongs to Stevie Nicks. Just keeping myself and hopefully some readers entertained._

_**Author's Note: **Hello Everyone! Now i know i still have a fic in the works but it's almost done! So i decided to get started on this one!This fic has been playing in my head for a long time, ever since I got bit by the Jackie/Eric bug. It's something really new to me and I hope you guys will enjoy it. I got the idea after watch the movie Two Weeks with Sally Field great movie btw. So this story will kinda be like that but I added a lot more stuff. Also big thanks to Marla's Lost who was a great big help to me when I first thought of the idea! No, I wasn't gonna write a preview but when I got my laptop I couldn't resist so Ta da! But if you're afraid it'll give too much away go ahead and scroll down to the release date and another Author's Note (I like to talk can you tell? lol) ) Hope you like please review and enjoy!_

_**Updated AN June '12: **Because I don't want to take the risk of the fic being taken down I have deleted the lyrics that had previously been posted as part of this opening chapter. However you can still read this chapter and to get the whole experience listen to the song 'Landslide' by Stevie Nicks or The Dixie Chicks or any other version while you read it. Sorry if it's a bit confusing and I hope you'll continue to read the story :D_

* * *

Two Weeks

A That 70's Show Fan Fiction

Kitty is seen sitting in the living room, fluffing up her hair and making sure her clothes aren't wrinkled.

"Do I look ok?" she asks to the camera.

"You look great." Hyde is heard saying from behind the camera, "I'm glad you're finally doing this."

Kitty takes in a deep breath, "I can't believe I'm doing this."

* * *

_**The Forman Family was always a close family, basement babies and all…**_

A Christmas photo, sitting on a night stand is shown. Red and Kitty are sitting in the middle of the yellow sofa. Laurie sits beside Red with Fez sitting on the floor by her feet. On the other side, next to Kitty is Eric who has his right arm around Donna's shoulders. On the second level, sitting on the brick wall behind the couch are Hyde with his arm slung on Jackie's shoulders and Kelso sitting beside Jackie with a dopey smile on his face.

_**But like everything else in life, that changed with time…**_

More Christmas photos are shown. With each new one, everyone looks a little bit older and has changed in some sort of way. And most importantly the number of people in pictures begins to shrink. First Laurie's gone, then Fez and Kelso, then Donna, and finally Eric. The latest picture is of Kitty and Red sitting in the same space but instead it is Jackie who is sitting on Red's left side and Hyde sitting on Kitty's right.

* * *

_**And now it could change again….**_

Hyde is seen standing in the Forman kitchen, talking on the phone. He looks tired and frustrated, and it can easily be heard in his voice.

"You need to come home, man." He says into the phone, "She's not getting better…she needs you here."

* * *

The whole gang including Randy, Betsy, and Brooke, but not Eric are in the kitchen. Hyde stands off to the side watching them and Kelso bounces over to him.

"Man, Hyde" he says happily, "it's great that everyone's finally together."

"Yeah." Hyde agrees in a sarcastic tone, "A real hoot."

* * *

_**With some humor…**_

The gang is sitting in the basement. Everyone is there including Randy. He looks over around at the gang.

"You know, sometimes I feel like you guys don't want me here." He tells them, "It's like you never even hear a word I'm saying."

Hyde frowns and turns to Fez, "Hey Fez, did you hear something?"

Fez just shakes his head as the others laugh—except for Donna and Randy.

* * *

_**Lots of drama…**_

Eric and Jackie are seen standing in the kitchen.

"Eric, you don't realize just how lucky you are." Jackie says to Eric as he tries to walk out to the driveway.

Instead he turns around and points his finger at Jackie, "No Jackie. You don't realize how lucky _you are_."

* * *

Eric and Donna are outside in the driveway sitting on the Vista Cruiser. They are not sitting too close to each other, but not far away either. Eric is looking down as Donna talks to him.

"Eric, I know you're going through a tough time." Donna sincerely tells him, "And I just want you to know that I'll be here for you. I love you."

Eric turns his head to look at her, looking slightly surprised

* * *

Jackie and Eric are seen kissing in the kitchen, when the swinging door opens and Donna and Hyde are revealed.

* * *

"Eric, I've got the perfect solution to your problem!" Kelso excitedly tells Eric as they sit on the couch in the basement.

Eric rolls his eyes, "Kelso, if it's anything that deals with beer or naked ladies I don't wanna hear it."

Kelso sits quietly for a several seconds before jumping back up.

"Ok, I've got another perfect solution to your problem!"

* * *

Jackie is seen sitting on the bed beside Kitty, laughing as she talks to her. Betsy and Jackie are seen playing Barbie's on the floor. Jackie is seen hugging Red.

"She's a good kid, that one." Red tells his son as they sit in the master bedroom.

"Yeah, yeah. She's the favorite." Eric scoffs, earning him a smirk from Red.

* * *

In the living room, a very hostile scene seems to be going on. As the group of adults, Hyde, Donna, Eric, Jackie, Kelso, Brooke, and Randy, all look angry at one another.

Fez pops into the room from the kitchen, with Betsy at his side and a tray of mugs in his hands.

"Who wants hot chocolate?"

Seeing that no one has answered him he frowns, but then takes a few seconds to pay attention to the scene.

"Uh-o. Um more hot chocolate for us then." he quickly tells Betsy as he hurriedly pushes the little girl back into the room.

* * *

_~.~_

Kelso and Fez along with Betsy run into the Forman's bedroom, they each jump onto Kitty's bed and continue to bounce around making Kitty laugh out loud

_~.~_

Eric is seen sitting on the bed, talking to Kitty. Then suddenly he stops and breaks down into tears as he hugs his mother.

_~.~_

Hyde is seen sitting in the Forman's bedroom as Kitty lays on the bed looking very weak and frail.

Hyde looks down and shakes his head before looking back up at Kitty, "You're on your deathbed and you're still playing matchmaker."

Kitty smiles and laughs weakly as she reaches over and grabs Hyde's hand.

_~.~_

Red is seen walking over to the bed where Kitty is laying in with her eyes closed, he carefully climbs into it and wraps his arms around her.

* * *

_**And the power of family…**_

The entire family is seen standing in the kitchen, with a glass in their hands. Suddenly Hyde raises his up a bit higher.

"To Kitty Forman."

The others nod their heads and move their cups up to cling against Hyde's.

"To Kitty Forman."

* * *

_**A lot can happen in two weeks**_

Eric and Jackie are seen sitting in the living room.

"When did the devil turn into an angel?" Eric asks her, teasingly.

"I don't know." Jackie tiled her head, "When did Yoda turn into Luke Skywalker?"

**Coming January 18, 2010**

* * *

_**Author's Note: **So what do you think? I'm really excited about doing this and I hope you guys are too. I thinking updates every week on Monday. Or what day works for you guys? _

_Also I have not finished the story so if you would like to se something happen in the story drop me a note and I'll try my best to fit it in._

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	2. What Ever Happened to 'Hello'

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing, just trying to keep a few of us entertained._

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone! Well January 18__th__ has arrived. 'Finally' I bit a lot of you are thinking. Thanks so much for all the reviews and alerts you guys, I'm so happy that you guys are excited as I am. This is once again, something totally different for me and I'm looking forward to seeing if I can pull it off. Quick little notes before you start read. Always remember I am not a doctor nor am I studying to be one, the only medical stuff I know is from ER and it's been almost two years since I saw an episode. Second, the beginning of each chapter will be in italics, showing part of a video Hyde shot of Kitty, before she got really sick. That's about it, so Enjoy!_

* * *

_Kitty Forman sat on the couch in her living room. She fluffed the curls in her hair and smoothed out the invisible wrinkles on her skirt. _

"_Do I look ok?" she asked _

"_You look great." Hyde nodded from behind the video camera he had already started filming with. "I'm glad you're finally doing this."_

_Kitty took in a deep breath before looking up at her adoptive son. _

_She shook her head slightly, "I can't believe I'm doing this."_

"_It's gonna be fine. Don't worry." Hyde reassured, "This tape is gonna be one of the ways we remember you. It's the one we're gonna show future generations."_

_Kitty gave an uneasy expression before smoothing out her skirt once again. _

"_Are you sure I look ok?"_

"_Positive."_

_Comforted by Hyde's response, Kitty nodded and sighed before looking back up._

"_Ok, let's get started."_

~*~

It was Saturday afternoon when the two decided to call the others. She didn't know, because they didn't tell her. She didn't want them calling anyone. Especially him. But the two knew that she wanted her whole family with her now, even if she wouldn't say it out loud.

They split the list of names in half. She would call three and he would call three. Each of them had at least one person their list that was difficult to contact.

He had just finished his second phone call. The first one received no answer. This time things had gone a bit smoother.

The second phone call had been to Kelso, over in Chicago.

After making small talk with Brooke, he had been passed over to Kelso. He then went on to explain the situation. Kelso had of course been shocked, but once that wore off he had agreed to be back in Point Place by Monday.

Kelso had also said he would pass on the word to Fez, who lived in the apartment next-door to him.

He was thankful for that. It meant one less person for him to call. However, he did wish Kelso had volunteered to tell the other person Hyde had to call, instead.

He hung up the yellow phone and sighed.

The room was silent, but her voice could be faintly heard as the other person talked to someone on the phone over in the other room. He still had plenty of time to make that first phone call again.

But he didn't want to.

But it was for her. And she had done some much for him over the years.

Slowly he picked the telephone back up to his ear. He then proceeded to dial the number with the Seattle area code.

Several miles away in the state of Washington, a young man watched the ringing phone, which rested on his desk, from a distance. He had done the same thing a few minutes ago when the phone rang the first time.

He had a good feeling on who it was. He also had a better feeling about what it was about. He didn't want to deal with that. Not now, not ever. If he just avoided it, it would be ok…until…well when he got to that point then he would worry.

The ringing stopped and he let out the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. But then something unexpected happened. His answering machine clicked on and the person on the other line left a message.

"Answer the damn phone." the familiar voice commanded him, "_Now_."

He wasn't exactly sure why he did it. But he picked up the phone. It must have been the tone of voice the man used with him. It was the one that was used when he needed to get his point across. It was a scary tone.

Taking a deep breath, he began the conversation with the man he hadn't seen in almost a year.

"Hey."

~*~

Minutes later Jackie Burkhart walked into the kitchen and saw the back of the man on the phone. His voice was angry as he griped tightly onto the receiver and he argued with the person on the other end.

"Alright, fine. I don't give a damn anymore." He told the man on the other line, "Stay in Seattle, I don't care. Just know you're disappointing her."

With that said he slammed the receiver back onto the hook. He stayed quite for a few seconds never seeing Jackie until he felt her tiny hand touch his back.

He turned around with surprise and faced her to find a small smile on her face.

"Hi." she greeted softly.

"Hi." he said in a gruff voice, as he leaned up against the counter

"I got in touch with Donna. She said she'll be here by Monday." Jackie explained and the man nodded, "Any luck?"

"No." he grumbled and sighed with frustration.

"At least he answered." Jackie stated, letting him know how it had gone with the two other phone calls she had made.

He sighed, "Yeah he answered, but not the answer I wanted to hear." he closed his eyes for a few seconds, "He doesn't wanna come. He says he can't make it. What a load of…"

"Steven." Jackie interrupted, "I know your upset, but you can't get too mad at him. He's just scared."

"Yeah." he answered as he looked her straight in the eye, "He's not the only one."

Hyde then walked out of the kitchen and through the swinging door. Jackie just watched him leave, she knew he was going upstairs and he'd probably calm down once he was there. Besides she couldn't think about that right now.

She had something more important to do.

~*~

Steven Hyde knocked lightly on the bedroom door before pushing it open.

When he walked inside he was welcomed by a scene that use to pain him, but after so long he'd gotten use to it. Well as use to it as he could. After all, how could he ever really get use to seeing the woman who was like a mother to him, lying in a bed slowly slipping away?

It was about four years ago when it all began. The group had all split up by then. Laurie left…somewhere…no one was quite sure where. Kelso went to Chicago to help Brooke raise Betsy and Fez was quick to follow his partner in crime.

Donna left to Madison to go to college, she had left with her boyfriend Randy. The two were now living in Rhode Island, newly engaged. Eric had returned home from Africa and stayed in Point Place for about a month and then found a job. In Seattle.

Of course Kitty had been heartbroken at the thought of having her baby boy so far away from her. All of her kids were now off with their own lives in their own cities, far from Point Place. Except for Jackie and Hyde.

Hyde had the record store to take care of. A job that he was actually happy to do. It paid well and wasn't a lot of work, what wasn't there to like? And Jackie had found a career as a personal shopper. Being paid to shop, it was her dream!

However, the two remaining 'Basement Babies' didn't exactly get along. Even though 'Sam the Striper' was long gone, the memory and the pain were still there. It was a tough time for them, once everyone was gone and they were the only ones that remained.

Hyde still lived with the Formans and Jackie visited the couple as often as she could—they were like the parents she had always wanted. Each time Hyde and Jackie saw each other all hell would break loose. There were Zen expressions displayed, names called, and plenty of burns made. But that all stopped when Kitty got sick.

It had started off with Kitty feeling pain in her legs, back, and the rest of her body. She complained about it but no one—including herself—thought anything of it. Then there was the tiredness that came a few weeks later. Kitty was always an active woman and so her tiredness did not go unnoticed by her family and especially her husband.

Red would tell her to go to the doctor whenever he saw his wife looking more drained then usual or when she would complain about the pain. Kitty would only shake her head and remind him she was a nurse and didn't need a doctor. Then the headaches started. And then she began to loose weight, without even trying. That's when she knew something was wrong.

Kitty had cancer.

The next few months after the diagnosis, consisted of time mostly spent at the hospital. There were several surgeries and treatments Kitty had to go through, and through them all were three people by her side. Red, Hyde, and Jackie.

The others came for the occasional visits. Laurie was the only one who they never seemed to get in touch with. All they had was the number she had left them, nearly six years ago.

Eric had come a few times over the years. He came when Kitty had her first surgery and during one of the times that she was hospitalized for some treatments. After that visit though, he made sure he only came when she was feeling well. Jackie suspected it had to do with how ailing Kitty had looked.

A few months ago everything seemed to be going great; Kitty was doing better than she had in a long time. Sure there were the occasional bumps in the road, that would send her to the hospital for a few days but Kitty was convinced that the worst was over.

So when Red got invitation to a veteran's convention in New York, Kitty had insisted he go. It would only be for a week, and she did have two of her little angles with her in the house.

Hyde was still down in the basement and Jackie had moved into Laurie's old room during the months when Kitty was at her worst.

And though Red knew the two dumbasses would take care of his wife, and she did seem to be getting better, he couldn't leave her. Not for a week.

Somehow Kitty managed to work her magic on him and got her way.

Red left for New York, in the uniform he used when getting together with old war buddies, on Wednesday morning. But he didn't leave without giving Kitty a long loving kiss and threatening his two adoptive children with a good ol' foot in the ass.

"You take care of her," he told them before he stepped out of the house, "Or I'll stick my foot so far up you ass you don't want to know what will happen."

Yeah, they were in big trouble.

It had started off fine, until Thursday afternoon when Kitty started with a strong sharp pain she had never felt before. Hyde and Jackie rushed her to the hospital and hours later had received the devastating news.

Kitty was dying; there was almost no way to stop it. The doctors gave her only a few weeks, maybe less. They all wanted her to stay in the hospital but she refused, saying she didn't want to die in a hospital; she wanted to be in the place she loved. Her home.

And so that's where she was now. In the bedroom she shared with her husband for over twenty years. Lying alone in the bed, an IV machine at her side, looking a bit tired and frail.

"Hey Mrs. Forman." Hyde greeted softly as took a seat in the chair that had been moved to the bedside, "Eh…I mean Mom."

Kitty smiled a small smile. She was sick, but she tried to keep a strong appearance for those around her.

"Steven, where did you run off to?"

"Um nowhere." Hyde tried to sound convincing, "I was just downstairs making a few phone calls."

"Oh?" Kitty asked raising her eyebrows, "I hope you didn't try calling him."

Hyde shook his head, "Don't worry, I didn't."

It wasn't a lie. After all, he wasn't the one who tried to call Red. That had been Jackie's job.

"Good." Kitty nodded, "There's no need to worry him and make him rush home. I am sure he's having fun with his old friends. It's something he needs."

Hyde just nodded, not knowing what else to say. He wasn't about to lie to her and say he wouldn't call Red. The man needed to know. He also wasn't so sure how he should break the news to her about the others.

"Um, Mom how would you feel if I had some of the guys over on Monday?"

"That's fine, Steven." Kitty assured, "You tell Jackie she's welcome to spend some time with a sick old woman if you boys get to be too much to handle."

"Actually," Hyde began with a soft chuckle, "it's not just guys coming."

Kitty frowned a small frown and Hyde had to smile.

"How would you feel if all your basement babies came to pay you a visit?"

For the first time in the past few days, Kitty's eyes lit up and then filled with tears. Happy tears.

"Oh, Steven…" she said not quite sure what to say, "Really?"

Hyde smirked, "They'll be here Monday."

"Oh Steven." Kitty gushed before pulling Hyde into a hug. A hug that saddened Hyde a bit. Her hugs weren't as tight as they use to be. He never thought he would, but he actually missed them.

Kitty smiled through her tears as she hugged her second son and placed a kiss on the top of his head, "You're a good boy, Steven."

Hyde didn't say anything. He wasn't the good boy Kitty thought he was. A good boy would take better care of his mother. He would get the ones she really wanted to see to come see her. He wasn't a good boy.

~*~

Eric had been pacing around his apartment though out his conversation with Hyde. Once they had hung up, well Hyde had hung up with him, he sunk down into his old sofa. He had been sitting there ever since, trying not to feel too guilty about his adoptive brother's words.

He knew he was disappointing his mother, but he couldn't go back there. Him being there wouldn't help anything. If he went his mother would still die.

The loud ringing interrupted Eric from his thoughts.

He was a bit surprised that Hyde had called back, the way they had left things he didn't think he'd call again. He soon decide that if he didn't answer this time, things between him and Hyde would only get worse.

Eric reached over, grabbed the phone and sighed, "Hello."

"Eric Forman you listen to me."

Hearing the feminine voice on the other line caused Eric to frown. It wasn't the voice he was expecting, but he knew who it was.

"Jackie?"

"That's right." Jackie confirmed with a nod, even though he couldn't see her, "This is Jackie Burkhart. The Jackie Burkhart who _always _gets her way."

"Jackie?" Eric asked still confused, "What are you…"

"Shut it, Forman." Jackie said in an intimidating tone of voice, scarring Eric and getting him to shut his mouth.

"Shut up and listen." she commanded, "Your mother is sick, very sick. We don't know how much longer she has left. The last time you visited her was six months ago and when she started feeling sick you left on the next plane out. You need to come see her."

"Jackie…"

"Did I say you could talk?" Jackie asked not wanting an answer.

And so Eric remained silent.

"I don't want to hear anything about how you can't make it." Jackie went on, "Because I know you can. You just don't want to. You don't want to see how sick your mother looks, but you have to come see her Eric. She misses you and you know you miss her."

"If you don't come, you'll regret it for the rest of your life." Jackie continued her voice going soft for just a second or two before going back to her ordering one, "I want to see you here at your parents house by Monday evening. Okay?"

There was a silence on the other end and Jackie rolled her eyes.

"You can talk now."

"Thanks." Eric said and nodded his head as he cleared his throat, "But Jackie…"

"Oh and one more thing." Jackie interrupted, "Remember Jackie Burkhart _always _gets her way."

Eric opened his mouth to respond but he was too late. Jackie had hung up the phone. Eric pulled the phone away from his ear, when he heard the dial tone, and frowned at the phone.

What ever happened to 'Hello?'

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__There you go! Chapter 1 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Be sure to tune in next Monday when Kitty's basement babies start returning back to the nest._

_Thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, see you next time, take care, and have a nice day!_


	3. It's Like Raising Three Kids

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing, nothing, nothing._

_**Author's Note: **__Hello all! It's Monday! Hope it's been a great one! If not hope this one makes it a bit better. Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter, they really made me smile and really got me writing. Now quick little notes. One this chapter may seem like a filler but it does have some important stuff and was really long (6,000 words) before, that I had to cut it in half. The other half will be up next Monday! Oh and please remember I am not a doctor, I am not studying to be a doctor. The last hospital related thing I did was play Operation this last week and I lost. lol Anywoo thanks for reading and please review. Enjoy!_

* * *

"_Do you wish everyone would've stayed here in Point Place, so we could've helped you more?"_

"_No." Kitty was quick to answer, "I do wish you kids would have stayed here, but not because of me." she paused for a few seconds, "But I'm fine with the fact that my basement babies are all over the country. Except for you and Jackie, who have just been the greatest little guardian angels."_

"_Of course that doesn't mean I don't miss you all." Kitty continued looking straight at the camera, "With Michael and Fez over in Chicago. Donna off upstate. Eric's the farthest, over in Seattle. And Laurie…"_

_Kitty frowned for a few seconds before turning to her right, "Red, did we ever hear from Laurie?"_

_Hyde swung the camera over to where Kitty was talking to, to show Red sitting in his pea soup green chair his newspaper covering his face._

"_No."_

_Hyde moved the camera back to Kitty who was looking just a bit disappointed._

"_Oh, well…" Kitty said with a wave of her hand, "I still miss her."_

"_You do?" Hyde asked._

"_She's my daughter, Steven." Kitty said sternly, "I have to."_

_Hyde chuckled and Kitty couldn't help but smile. After a few seconds, another question pooped into Hyde's head._

"_Didn't you once say you wished that when we all grew up, we'd start our families and live next-door to you and Red?"_

"_Yes, I did." Kitty nodded, "But I also said I wished I would live to be a hundred and five."_

***

Hyde was sitting on the living room couch with the remote in his hands, flipping through the channels.

It was Monday morning. Fez, Donna, Kelso and his family would be here later on in the afternoon. That's why the nurse from the hospice was here now. Kitty wanted to spend as much time as she could with her adopted children, without being interrupted for some sort of check up.

Angela, the nurse, was upstairs with Kitty. Jackie was in the room too. Hyde had been in there for awhile, but then made up an excuse about coming downstairs incase the phone rang.

Hearing footsteps, Hyde turned around to see the young dark haired nurse coming down the living room stairs. He turned off the TV and stood up to meet Angela at the end of the stairs.

"Hey." He greeted.

Angela smiled a small smile, "Hi."

"Um, how's she doing?" he asked.

"She's doing very well."

"Yeah." Hyde scoffed, "Except for her dying, right?"

"Right." She looked down and nodded, "I'm sorry…I just hate giving bad news. It's the worst part of my job."

Hyde nodded, understandingly. Kitty had once told him the same thing. Back when she was still working at the hospital. Back before she got sick.

"She is doing okay, though." Angela added, breaking Hyde away from his thoughts.

"She is?" he asked, sounding almost too hopeful.

"Yeah." She nodded, "Of course she is weak and is getting sicker, but very slowly. Mrs. Forman is still active. She's willing and able to do things on her own."

Hyde frowned slightly, "And that's good right?"

"Yes." Angela smiling and nodded, "She not in too much pain, right now either. In fact for dying woman she's doing well."

"Ok. Cool." Hyde nodded in his Zen fashion. He then began to think of how to phrase his next words. After a few seconds he got an idea, "Um listen. She doesn't really want people knowing how sick she is, yet. So I was wondering if…"

"Sure thing." Angela interrupted, "Next time I come I'll try not to look so _nursey_."

"Thanks." Hyde responded with a nod of appreciation.

Angela nodded back before looking at her watch, "Oh, I better get going."

"Oh yeah, sure." Hyde agreed as he opened the front door for her. "We'll see you Wednesday, right?"

"Right, but if you need anything don't hesitate to call the hospice." She added and he nodded, "You know, Mrs. Forman is very lucky to have a son like you."

Hyde watched the woman exit out the door and couldn't help but feel a tad guilty. He could've corrected her and told her Kitty wasn't his mother, not biologically anyways. But then he thought about what she said about Kitty being lucky to have a son like him. He guessed that was true, especially if her true biological son refused to be here with her.

"You know she's single." A voice called from behind Hyde.

It startled him a bit and he couldn't help but jump. When he turned around he saw, on the third step from the bottom, a smiling Jackie Burkhart.

"What are you talking about?" he asked sounding confused.

Jackie smiled and crossed her arms, "Angela. You were wondering if she was single. She is."

"I was not." he argued.

"Yes you were."

"No I wasn't."

"Yes you were, Steven." Jackie argued, "I know you."

"Whatever." Hyde said with a roll of his eyes. "Why aren't you upstairs?"

"Mom's getting dressed and didn't want me in there if I was gonna try and help her."

Hyde nodded. Jackie had also begun calling Kitty 'Mom,' it was around the same time Hyde had started. It was upon Kitty's request, since she did see them as her own children. And it made things easier when the doctors asked if and how they were related.

"Did you try getting a hold of Red again?" Jackie questioned.

"Yeah. The hotel put me on hold for five minutes before we got disconnected _again_." he sighed, "I'll try again when I make the other two phone calls in awhile."

"Actually Steven," Jackie began, "I think it'll just be one other phone call you have to make."

Hyde frowned, he knew she was up to something.

"What are you talking about?"

"Just trust me." Jackie said with a smile before skipping out through the swinging door.

***

A few hours passed since Angela had left. Jackie and Hyde were sitting on the living room couch. Hyde held the remote in his hands trying to find something appealing to watch. He probably would have found something a lot quicker if Jackie hadn't been sitting beside him.

"Nope." Jackie said with a shake of her head.

Hyde sighed and changed the channel again, only to have Jackie scrunch up her nose and shake her head.

"Why aren't you upstairs?" Hyde asked turning to face the tiny brunette.

Jackie kept her eyes on the screen and signaled for Hyde to change the channel. Once he finally did she answered him.

"I made a deal with Mom." she explained, "She could stay up later and spend more time with everyone if she rested before they all got here."

Hyde nodded his head, "Nice one."

Jackie only smiled in response as she watched the McDonalds commercial come to an end and the program start up again. Her eyes lit up.

"Oo Steven leave it here!" she pleaded.

"No way Jackie. I'm not watching _Days of Our Lives_." Hyde argued, "Especially since it's last weeks episode."

Hyde soon realized what he had said and his face fell. He flipped the channel and kept his eyes on the screen, hoping Jackie hadn't heard him. But she did. Jackie smiled as she watched him and got ready to respond but didn't get the chance.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

Hyde and Jackie swung their heads to the kitchen door where they saw Michael Kelso making his way to the yellow couch. Shock covered their faces but at the same time they couldn't help but smile at their old friend.

"Michael." Jackie welcomed with a hug as Hyde stood up.

"Kelso man, don't you knock?" Hyde asked after he pulled out of the man hug.

Kelso shrugged, "Not here. I never knock here."

"I tired to stop him." a new voice called out as the person walked into the room.

The three heads looked over to see Brooke Kelso walk into the room with little six year old Betsy at her side, clutching her hand. She smiled at the couple.

Jackie and Brooke exchanged 'hellos' as they embraced in a quick hug. As Brooke walked over to hug Hyde, Jackie moved over to her goddaughter.

"Hi there, Betsy." Jackie greeted with a smile.

Betsy smiled back, a large child-like smile, "Hi Aunt Jackie."

"Oh you are so cute!" Jackie gushed as she hugged the little girl, and Betsy wrapped her little arms around her.

"You're pretty too, Aunt Jackie." Betsy said once Jackie pulled away.

"Oh of course I am." Jackie said with a smile, "And aren't you so sweet for noticing."

Betsy smiled, "Can I have my present now?"

"Betsy!" Brooke scolded slightly.

Jackie just smiled and shook her head, "It's ok Brooke." she reassured before turning back to Betsy. "Well sweetie, I'm afraid with all that's happened with Grandma Kitty, I was a little too busy to go shopping for you."

"Oh." Betsy said sadly.

"But." Jackie continued, "That just means that while you're here I'm going to take you on a shopping trip and buy you _anything_ you want."

"Yay!" Betsy exclaimed as she clapped her hands,

"Jackie, you really don't have to do that…" Brooke started to say, only to get interrupted.

"Yes I do." Jackie insisted, "It is my job to spoil my goddaughter."

"Yeah, with the godfather's credit card." Hyde added dryly as he turned to Kelso, "Thanks for that, man."

Kelso grinned and patted Hyde on the back, "No problem."

Just then, the kitchen door swung open again and a fuming young foreign man stomped his way into the room.

"You sonofabitch." he said as he glared at Kelso, "Some people gently shake a sleeping person to wake them and tell them they are here, not open the car door and let them fall out!"

"Yeah." Kelso nodded with a grin, "But it's not as funny."

Fez glared daggers at Kelso for several seconds, and then he noticed Hyde and Jackie standing off to the side. Then he let his face fall with sadness, looking close to tears.

"Oh Hyde!" he cried as he wrapped his arms around Hyde. He then looked at Jackie, "Oh Jackie!" he cried as he made his way over to the tiny girl and wrapped his arms around her.

He pulled away a bit only to catch a glimpse of Hyde and walk back over to him.

"Oh Hyde!"

"Oh Jackie!" he cried, switching sides again.

"Oh Hyde!"

"Ok, man. Ok." Hyde said as he patted Fez's back and pulled out of the embrace, "That's enough."

"Yeah Fez, you better get that out of your system." Jackie began, "Mom's not gonna want you acting that way when you see her."

"Yeah guys." Hyde nodded, "When you see her, don't treat her like she's sick. She hates that."

"Where is she?" Kelso asked, sounding serious for once.

"Up in her bedroom." Jackie informed.

"How's she doing?" Brooked asked softly.

Jackie and Hyde looked at each other before turning back to their friends. They nodded their heads.

"Ok."

"Well I know what'll make her feel better." Kelso said out loud as he scooped his daughter into his arms, "A visit from her favorite people!"

Kelso then ran up the stairway, with Betsy in his arms and Fez not far behind.

"Oh and Fez too!" Kelso added causing Fez to stop only for a second, and then continue on his journey.

Hyde shook his head and then headed up the stairs himself, leaving the two smiling women alone.

"How do you do it?" Jackie asked curiously.

Brooke shrugged and smiled, "It's like raising three kids."

Upstairs in the Forman bedroom, Kitty was lying in bed trying to get some sleep. She was having a hard time doing so though. She knew she had made a deal with Jackie but it was hard to sleep when she was so excited about seeing all of her babies again.

The bedroom door burst open and Kitty opened her eyes to see Fez and Kelso, along with Betsy in her father's arms, run into her room. She carefully sat up just in time, before the three flopped onto the queen sized bed and began to bounce around.

Kitty couldn't help but laugh out loud as they continued to jump around. Hyde entered the room and took notice of the scene and had to smile. It was nice to see her so happy. He wanted to tell the guys to stop jumping but decided not to.

"Oh look at this." Kitty smiled at the two boys, "My two little basement babies!"

Kelso and Fez moved closer to the older woman so they could receive a kiss on the cheek from her. After giving them each a quick peck she turned to the little girl.

"And my little grandbasement baby." she said before kissing Betsy's forehead.

"Mommy's here too." Betsy informed as she pointed to her mother who had just entered the room with Jackie.

"Yes she is." Kitty nodded as she looked over at the tall brunette, "Hi Brooke, dear."

Brooke smiled, "Hi, Mrs. Forman." she said as she bent down to hug Kitty, "It's so good to see you."

"It's good to see you too." Kitty smiled.

"Grandma Kitty." Betsy said as she tugged at the older woman's hand, "Aunt Jackie's taking me shopping tomorrow cause she didn't buy me a present."

Kitty smiled at the little girl, "Well isn't that nice."

"Yup." Betsy nodded before pausing for a second or two, "Did you get me a present?"

"Betsy!" Brooke scolded once again, despite the fact that Kitty was laughing. "I'm sorry Mrs. Forman…"

"No, Brooke it's fine." Kitty said as she laughed she then turned to Betsy and kept her smile in place.

"As a matter of fact I did get you a present. It's from me and your Grandpa Red. It's over in the…" Kitty began to move out of bed only to stop when she felt a sharp pain in her right side.

The five adults watched Kitty carefully as she stayed still and frowned slightly, as if waiting for the pain to subside. After a few seconds she gave up and leaned back against the pillows.

She sighed sadly, "Steven, would you be a dear and get Betsy's present for me?" she asked in a tone that matched her expression, "It's in the top drawer there."

"Sure, Mom." Hyde nodded as he followed Kitty's finger to the wooden dresser by the bathroom door.

He slowly opened the drawer and quickly found a beautiful baby doll with blonde hair and blue eyes that opened and closed, wearing a pink one piece pajama. Betsy was gonna love it.

Hyde's smile shrunk as he realized Kitty probably wanted to be the one to hand the doll to the little girl and see her eyes light up. Thinking quickly he grabbed one of Red's undershirts that was there in the drawer and wrapped it around the doll before walking back.

"Here you go, Bets." Hyde said with a smile as he handed the wrapped doll over to her and shared a small smile with his mother.

Betsy quickly tossed the shirt aside and saw the doll. Immediately a big smile appeared and her eyes became big as she hugged the doll to her chest.

"She's so pretty! I love her!" she said tightening her grip on the doll, before moving over to hug Kitty with one arm and she continued to hug her doll with the other. "Thank you Grandma Kitty!"

Kitty smiled as she hugged the little girl back, "You're welcome sweetheart."

The group watched Betsy play with her new toy, each smiling their own smiles. However, after a few seconds, two of the smiles disappeared and turned into small frowns.

"You know Mrs. Forman, I've really missed you." Kelso said as he scooted closer to Kitty, "There aren't any hot mom's like you at Betsy's school. They're all younger. But you could totally kick their ass!"

Kitty smiled an uncertain smile, "Well thank you, Michael."

"Oh Miss. Kitty those beautiful curls of yours!" Fez said happily as he touched Kitty's trademark hair, that was a bit shorter than he remembered, "I have never seen anything like them in the salon.

"Oh aren't you sweet." Kitty giggled, "You know these curls are part of the reason I refused any more treatments. I didn't want to loose them again."

The room was silent in an uncomfortable silence. Betsy was the only one oblivious to the situation, as the other adults looked at each other hoping someone would say something. Trouble was they didn't know what to say. Kitty watched them and shook her head.

"It was a joke." she told them and soon they all started laughing, very fake laughs causing Kitty to roll her eyes.

"Well boys," she began to say as she turned her attention to Fez and Kelso, "I'm afraid that my little watch dogs over there, haven't let me get out of bed so I wasn't able to make any kind treats for you."

"Aw." both men said in a disappointed tone of voice.

Kitty smiled, "But…"

"Mrs. Forman," Kelso interrupted, "please don't say Jackie baked anything."

"Yes, I chipped my front tooth on the coconut cookies she sent us for Christmas." Fez added, before ducking his head when Jackie threw a pillow at him.

"No." Kitty said with a smile, "Before I went to the hospital I made some cookie dough, and had Steven put them in the oven, yesterday. I'm sure…"

"Yeah!"

"Alright!"

Were the last words said before Kelso and Fez dashed out of the room and down to the kitchen for the cookies. Neither of them noticed Betsy and her doll following close behind. The remaining four smiled at the scene.

"Thanks Mrs. Forman." Brooke said, "But the three of them may get a little too hyper with the sugar, so I think we'll head over to our hotel for a little bit and…"

"Hotel?" Kitty asked with a frown.

"Oh Brooke." Jackie said softly as she shook her head, making Brooke frown with confusion.

"You don't have to stay at a hotel." Kitty went on, "You can stay right here."

"Oh, no." Brooke shook her head, "I mean, thank you Mrs. Forman but really, we don't want to impose."

"It's not imposing." Kitty argued, "You're family. And you're staying here."

"But…" Brooked started, only to be interrupted again. By Hyde this time.

"Don't fight it." he said to Brooke with a shake of his head.

Brooke looked at Hyde for a few seconds and then turned back to Kitty when she began speaking again.

"Alright, so it's settled. You're staying here." Kitty began, "Steven, why don't you go help Brooke with their bags. And Brooke you can take any room you like except for Eric's." she smiled, "My baby boy is coming home too."

Brooke smiled and nodded at Kitty as she followed Hyde out the door.

"Yeah, you're taking Eric's room." Hyde said as he led Brooke down the living room stairs.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__There you are my friends, Chapter 2 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Be sure to come back next Monday when more visitors come back to the Forman home._

_Thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, see you next time, take care, and have a nice day!_


	4. Jackie Burkhart Always Got Her Way

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing, not a thing, nada._

_**Author's Note: **__Hello All! Sorry for posting a bit late! Please don't be mad, I had a really good excuse, I was out celebrating my birthday. No, my birthday is not today, it was actually yesterday but I'm still celebrating it was a big one lol. Anywoo thanks for all the previous reviews I love them and they always make me smile! Quick notes time. Now Randy is part of this story but please do not get mad at me of he seems out of character right after Sam the Stripper he was my least fav character. Give him a chance though…or better yet me, I just need to get the hang of writing him, the only eps I really see of him is the final and the one with Red and Kitty's anniversary. So he maybe out of character but just give me time. Next note. As always I am not a doctor. I just turned 18 and I am no way like Doogie Howser, but I do love Neil Patrick Harris. Anywoo thanks for everything and Enjoy!_

* * *

_Kitty sat in her spot on the couch as she waited for her next question._

"_Are you disappointed in any of us?" Hyde asked._

"_Of course not." Kitty answered with a smile._

"_Not even Laurie?" Hyde asked sounding like he couldn't believe it._

"_Well…" Kitty said before she started to think. A second or two passed before she smiled back at the camera, "No. Not at all. I'm proud of all my children."_

"_Right." Hyde answered, "It's either Laurie or Eric, right?"_

_Kitty shook her head as she frowned and tried to fight back a smile._

"_Ok, you don't wanna say." Hyde sighed, "So blink once for Laurie and twice for Eric."_

_~*~_

"I tired to warn you." Jackie said to Brooke as the two along with Hyde entered the kitchen, "Mrs. Forman has never…"

Jackie stopped herself mid-sentence as she took in the scene of the kitchen. Kelso and Fez had found the plate of cookies and were helping themselves to mouthfuls as they sat on the kitchen chairs. Betsy sat beside her father in her own chair, taking a bite of her own cookie right after letting her doll have one. But what had caught Jackie's attention was that the two remaining kitchen chairs were taken up as well.

A blonde woman sat in one and a sandy blonde well kept—almost too well kept—haired man sat in the other.

"Lumberjack!" Jackie said happily as she made her way to her friend.

"Midget!" Donna smiled, sounding just as happy.

The two women walked to each other before meeting and embracing in a hug. At the same time Randy walked over to greet his former employer. After a few seconds the couples switched as Randy greeted Jackie and Donna, Hyde.

"Doesn't anyone knock anymore?" Hyde asked as he welcomed Donna with a quick hug.

Donna laughed as she pulled away, "It was Fez's idea. He let us in and told us to wait until you guys noticed us."

"Oh he did, did he?" Hyde asked as he walked closer to his foreign friend and Donna walked over to greet Brooke.

"Yes I did." Fez said as he grinned happily, "Aren't I clever?"

"Yeah." Hyde nodded before swatting the back of Fez's head with his hand, "Real clever."

"Ow!"

Hyde ignored Fez's cry of pain and made his way away from the crowd and over to the fridge to get a soda. Meanwhile Jackie did anything but walk away from their guests.

"Ok Donna, now that the 'hellos' are done, come here. Come on Brooke, you too." Jackie said as she dragged Donna's hand as she walked to the kitchen table.

"Let's get down to business." Jackie said in a serious tone once the three women were sitting at the table, "Show me that ring."

Donna smiled before lifting up her left hand to show off her new engagement ring; the two other women gasped when they saw it.

"Oh it's beautiful, Donna." Brooke complimented.

Jackie nodded, keeping her eyes on the diamond as she lifted Donna's large hand closer to her so she could get a better look, "It's so much bigger than the one Eric got you but I paid for."

"I know!" Donna agreed excitedly.

Soon talk about weddings and flowers and diamonds filled the room as the women, including Betsy and Fez, rambled on. Randy took a seat on an orange bar stool and made himself comfortable as Kelso looked on with a smile. Hyde on the other hand didn't seem to be enjoying the scene very much.

Noticing Hyde standing off in the corner, Kelso practically bounced his way over. He noticed the frown on his friends face and he wondered if Hyde was getting the same view he was. Once Kelso saw that it was the same sight, he shrugged his shoulders and crossed his arms but still smiling.

"Man Hyde," he said happily, "it's great everybody's finally together."

"Yeah. A real hoot." Hyde answered sarcastically before turning around and walking out of the kitchen.

Kelso furrowed his brow with confusion, trying to figure out what he had said wrong. Jackie, who had also caught the sight of Hyde's exit, sighed a sad sigh.

"He's really taking this hard huh?" Donna asked, apparently Jackie and Kelso weren't the only ones who saw.

"Yeah." Jackie nodded, "And he's really beating himself up about not being able to contact everyone."

"You mean you still haven't gotten a hold of Red?" Brooke asked and Jackie shook her head.

"He's at the convention and he has a room at the hotel but he's never in there because the convention is in some hall or something."

Brooke nodded, making a mental note to help out with the calling while she was here. Meanwhile Jackie continued with her story.

"We haven't gotten a hold of Laurie, the whore. I don't even think she knows she's sick." She said and the others shook their heads, "And Eric…"

"Eric?" Donna interrupted sounding almost excited, "Eric's coming? When?"

Seeing five frowns being sent her way, one being from her future husband, Donna cleared her throat and tried to control herself.

"I mean, really?"

"Yeah well, I called him." Jackie explained, "So he better come."

"I'm sure he will." Brooke reassured while patting Jackie's hand, "She is his mother after all."

"How is Mrs. Forman doing?" Donna asked as she realized she hadn't asked yet.

"She's doing ok."

Brooke nodded, "Yeah, we just came from seeing her."

"She was really happy to see you guys." Jackie said to the family members who had come in from Chicago, before turning to Donna and Randy, "Do you wanna go see her now?"

"Um I don't know." Donna said sounding uncertain, "Maybe I should wait, I bet she's tired from the excitement of seeing you guys. We can just wait here or go to our hotel for awhile and…"

"Donna." Randy interrupted as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

Donna looked up at her fiancé and saw the knowing look in his eyes. She nodded her head and then slowly stood up. Jackie and Brooke exchanged confused looks before turning back to Donna.

"Yeah I guess we could go now." Donna said to Jackie before she started following Randy out of the room. "Is she in her bedroom?"

"Yeah." Jackie nodded.

"Oh and Donna." Brooke called out, "Whatever you do, don't mention hotels."

Donna smiled slightly and nodded before exciting the room.

Kelso didn't notice a thing as he found the bowl of uncooked cookie dough and began eating it. Fez was busy sharing the baked cookies with Betsy and her doll. But Jackie and Brooke noticed the difference in Donna; she was never one to take orders from anyone especially a man. So why now?"

~*~

Kitty was lying in her bed thinking about what she had just seen. Her children were getting older; she hadn't seen Fez or the Kelso's in almost four months and yet they all seemed so much more grown up than before. She wondered how much the others had grown, she hadn't seen them in awhile either. She also had to wonder how much they would grow in the years to come, how much they would change.

After all, she wasn't going to be around for any of that. And that was good and bad. She wouldn't get so emotional when she realized how old her babies really were and she would never feel too old. Of course she wouldn't be able to be there for them whenever they needed advice, food, or just a hug.

She closed her eyes and sighed when she heard a soft knock on the door.

"Come in." she answered reopening her eyes.

A second or two passed before a familiar tall blonde, who once was a redhead, walked into the room.

"Hi Mrs. Forman."

"Hello Donna, dear." Kitty welcomed with a smile before she hugged her, "How are you?"

"I'm great." Donna smiled and took a seat in the nearby chair, "How are you?" not a second after the words left her mouth Donna wished she hadn't said them, "Um I mean…you remember Randy right?"

Kitty smiled slightly at Donna, letting her know it was ok, and then looked over at Randy.

"Of course, I do. Hello Randy."

"Hi Mrs. Forman." Randy smiled as he stuck his hand out to Kitty, "It's good to see you, again."

"Well it's good to see you too Randy, but I will not settle for a handshake." Kitty sternly told him, "You're going to be family soon, give me a hug."

Randy smiled and then leaned in to hug the ill woman. Donna smiled as she watched them, glad that Kitty was accepting Randy into this crazy mixed up family that she loved being a part of.

After letting go of Randy, Kitty smiled and looked at Donna, "So let me see the ring."

Donna smiled before moving her left hand closer to Kitty so she could see her engagement ring. Kitty smiled as she examined the piece of jewelry and Donna shared a smile with Randy.

"Oh it is just gorgeous, sweetie."

"Thanks."

"Bob must be so excited." Kitty commented and Donna nodded, "When is the big day?"

Donna's face dropped. She knew the date, they had decided on it about a month ago, but she didn't want to tell Kitty because she knew that the chance of her being able to attend the wedding was almost zero.

"Um actually Mrs. Forman," Donna began, "we're not too sure right now."

"Except that it's May 16th." Randy added and Donna sent him a glare to which he just shrugged off.

Kitty didn't notice either of them, "Oh a spring wedding. I bet you're going to make a beautiful bride, sweetheart."

"Thanks Mrs. Forman." Donna said now starting to feel sad at the fact that Mrs. Forman wouldn't be able to be at her wedding.

Kitty noticed the tears that were starting to shine in Donna's eyes. She hated when her kids cried, especially if it was because of her. Thinking quickly she came up with a topic that could change the conversation.

"How's everything in Rhode Island?" she asked patting Donna's hand.

"It's great." Donna nodded, "It really is. Randy's working at a bank right now and I started writing for the paper. I have my own column!"

Kitty smiled at the young woman's excitement and nodded her head, "I know."

"You do?" she asked with a small frown.

Kitty nodded again before explaining, "Red's brother Marty lives out there, so he mails us his papers every once in awhile. We haven't read them all but we've read a few."

Donna grinned, "That's so cool."

"We're proud of you Donna." Kitty went on, "We're proud of all our basement babies."

"That's really sweet Mrs. Forman." Donna continued to smile, "Thanks."

Feeling a bit out of place, Randy decided to give the two women some more time to talk alone.

"Um, Donna I'm gonna go drop our bags off at the hotel." He explained, "I'll be right back."

Kitty frowned at the words she had heard as Donna slammed her head against her hand as she heard the same words.

"Hotel?" Kitty asked with a frown and then looked at the blonde, "Oh Donna, you've known me for almost your whole life, you should have known better."

"We just thought that it would be easier on you if we stayed at a hotel." Randy explained for Donna.

"Oh nonsense." Kitty said with a shake of her head, "You two are welcomed to stay here."

Donna frowned a bit, feeling slightly guilty, "Well we did already make the reservation…"

"Then you can cancel them."

"But…"

"Donna," Kitty began as she grabbed Donna's hand, "I'm a dying woman. You don't argue with a dying woman."

"Ok." Donna sighed, "But that's the last time you can use the 'dying woman' card on me."

Kitty just smiled and patted her hand before instructing Randy to tell Jackie or Hyde that they were staying here so they could get a room fixed for them. Randy then left the room letting Kitty and Donna chat on about the details of the upcoming wedding.

~*~

Eric Forman stood in front of his childhood home.

He had been standing in the front yard since the cab dropped him off almost ten minutes ago, despite the snow. He just stared at the house, it hadn't changed much on the outside but he knew the same couldn't be said for the people on the inside.

He wasn't exactly ready to face those who were probably there. Hyde and had told him that the others were coming but Eric wasn't sure if they were already here. However, they weren't the ones who scared him.

It was Hyde, who was probably still upset with him. It was Jackie, who just scared him period; especially after her phone call. It was his father, who he was sure would give him a good foot in the ass for not coming sooner. It was his mother, who he was afraid would look sick, weak, miserable everything that she never was.

Eric had thought that by going through the front door, it would be easier. It wasn't. He couldn't bring himself to open the door. He wasn't sure if he should, after all he hadn't been home in months. Maybe Red had changed the locks. Maybe they had actually started locking their doors. Maybe he should've gone through the kitchen…no he wasn't ready to see that room without his mother in it.

Taking a deep breath, he raised his fist up before tapping it against the door.

He waited a few seconds before the door opened up, revealing a frowning Hyde. Immediately Eric prepared himself by closing his eyes and scrunching up his face in pain.

"What the hell are you doing?" Hyde asked in a gruff voice.

"Waiting for you to punch me." Eric replied keeping his eyes shut.

Hyde just stared at him, "I'm not gonna punch you, Forman."

Eric opened his eyes again, "You're not?"

"No. I mean yeah you deserve it." Hyde began, "But unlike you, I don't like disappointing Mom."

And with that said, he used the exit to Red's den to leave the room. Both guilt and a burn in one sentence, the man was good.

Eric let himself into the house, bringing his bags with him. He hadn't exactly expected Hyde to welcome him with open arms, but it had gone better than he had thought it would.

Suddenly he frowned as he reviewed Hyde's guilt-burn. When had he started calling his mom 'Mom?' Before he could draw any sort of conclusion or get any sort of idea, the kitchen door swung open and Jackie walked in.

"Steven who was at the…Eric, you came." She said sounding slightly surprised.

"I had to." Eric replied with a shrug, after taking off his jacket "Jackie Burkhart apparently always gets her way."

"You bet your ass she does." Jackie said with a smirk before she made her way to him and wrapped her arms around him.

Gradually Eric did the same. He wasn't exactly use to hugging the Devil; he didn't think you could hug her without catching on fire or being turned evil. But he did hug her back, a bit awkwardly at first but after a few seconds he realized how nice it felt to have his large arms around her tiny frame.

Jackie smiled and pulled herself out of the embrace, "It's good to see you, Eric."

"Um yeah, yeah you too, Jackie." Eric nodded as the smell of her coconut shampoo lingered in his nose…wait when did he smell her hair? "You look great."

She was wearing everyday clothes, some jeans and a turtleneck. It was a look she had worn several times in the years he'd known her, but this time, she really pulled it off.

"I know." Jackie agreed with a smile, "You look good too."

That was a bit of an understatement. Eric looked just as great as Jackie, maybe a bit tired from the plane ride but it didn't affect him too much. He'd finally grown into his tall frame. His skinny self was long gone as nicely curved muscles filled the once flat areas.

"Thanks." He smiled back, his cheeks suddenly feeling warm. Was he blushing? He couldn't let her see him do that! Clearing his throat he changed the subject, "So um where's Mom?"

"Oh she's upstairs. She actually just fell asleep awhile ago." She explained to him, "But I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you woke her up so you could visit with her…"

"No." Eric answered almost too quickly, "I mean, no it's ok. She needs her rest, I'll see her tomorrow."

Jackie just nodded, "Okay. Well are you hungry? I think Fez and Kelso might have left some of the casserole."

"Fez and Kelso?" Eric asked with a small frown "They're here already?"

"Yeah, they got here earlier in the day." Jackie informed, "Everyone's here. Come on, let's go to the kitchen so you can say 'hi.'"

Eric gulped as Jackie grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the swinging door. Everyone was here already? He wasn't ready to face _everyone_.

"Um Jackie, you know what?" Eric asked, planting his feet firmly on the ground so Jackie couldn't budge him another step forward, "I'm actually pretty tired and the jetlag and all. I think I'll just hang out here for awhile if that's ok."

"Oh." Jackie said sounding a bit disappointed, "Alright, sure. You stay here. I'm going back in the kitchen."

It was Eric's turn to nod as Jackie turned around and disappeared into the kitchen. He sighed in relief as he leaned his head on the back of the old couch and plopped his feet up on the table. That was a close one.

Jackie's voice was soon heard again.

"Hey you guys, Eric's here. He's in the living room."

Eric's head shot back up as he looked at the closed swinging door. Then before he knew it, he was surrounded by his old friends who soon began grilling him with questions.

He looked over at Jackie for help; she just stood by the door her arms crossed over her chest and a smirk on her lips. Didn't he understand? Jackie Burkhart _always_ got her way.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__There it is Chapter 3 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Be sure to come back next Monday when Eric and the gang begin to catch each other up on things!_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, see you next Monday, take care, and have a nice day!_


	5. Dumbass

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello All! Happy Monday! Any of you watch the Super Bowl or were you guys like me and only tuning in for the commercials lol. Thanks for all the reviews you guys I am so happy you guys are enjoying the story and don't worry Red will be home soon…maybe… Quick little notes, Happy Belated birthday to Mr. Ashton Kutcher who turned 32 yesterday! I am so looking forward to Friday! (Valentines Day comes out whoa hoo!) Oh and also this Chapter is my longest yet, I couldn't cut it because then it would end up being to short or would end awkwardly so you guys got lucky and got a long chap this week, hope this won't decrease the number of reviews I get. And finally, please remember I am not a doctor nor am I training to be one. I did go to the hospital earlier this week but only spent time in the waiting room (No worries everything is fine!) Thanks for everything you guys it really means a lot and now I'm stifling myself and letting you get to your reading. Enjoy!_

* * *

"_How do you think you handled all of this?" Hyde asked from behind the camera, "The diagnosis and all."_

"_Terribly." Kitty answered, "I did. From the very beginning. I ignored all the signs and refused to go to the doctor." she went on with a shake of her head, "Which is why, whenever you feel different in any way, especially in a bad way, I want you to go visit your doctor. As soon as you can, all of you. Is that understood?"_

_The camera moved up and down as Hyde nodded his head._

_Kitty smiled, "Good. Anyways, once the doctor told me about the cancer I was upset, just as most cancer patients are." she explained, "But I never once thought that this was going to be the end. I knew I had to do the treatments and all the surgeries, and I would be just fine. Because the world is just not ready to be without Kitty Forman."_

"_It sure isn't." Hyde agreed as Kitty continued to smile at the camera._

_~*~_

An hour or so later, the group was reconnecting in the living room.

Eric sat on the living room couch and beside him were the Kelsos. Kelso was sitting next to Eric and Brooke sat beside him while stroking Betsy's hair as she sat between them, fast asleep. Donna and Randy were seated on the piano bench. Fez sat Indian style on the floor and Jackie had made herself comfortable in Red's chair.

"And my class had the highest percent in passing the state exam test." Eric went on to say, he had been asked how his work was going in Seattle.

"Uh-huh. Uh-huh." Kelso nodded, sounding like he wasn't paying very much attention, "So are there any hot chicks there?"

"Michael!" Brooke scolded as she hit his arm with her free hand.

"Ow! What?!" he exclaimed as he touched his injury, "It's a geography question!"

His wife only rolled her eyes in response. The others seemed just as uninterested in the answer. Well except for Fez.

"Yes, and it is a very good question. I need to start planning my next vacation!"

Eric couldn't help but smile, these two would never change. He was grateful that. Shaking his head he answered the question. "Sorry Fez, I don't really go out very much. My work at school's pretty much how my time's spent."

Everyone went quiet and Fez and Kelso's grins dropped. Eric began to feel uncomfortable; he was worried they were feeling sorry for him. He didn't want that. He was happy in Seattle…sort of…he couldn't complain that was the point.

"Enough about me." he said, hoping to change the subject, "What've you guys been up to?"

Kelso was the first to speak, "I'm working over in Chicago as a real police officer. Gun and all."

"Good for you, Kelso."

"Yeah, but that's not the best part." he said excitedly, "It's been a whole month since I accidentally shot my gun off!"

"Awesome." Eric nodded, feeling very safe at the fact that he didn't live in Chicago.

"I am working at a salon, where I get to see beautiful women all day long." Fez explained with a large smile, "And they let me touch their heavenly soft hair."

Eric wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that, so he just smiled. Luckily, Brooke spoke before he could say anything.

"Betsy's in the first grade already, and I'm working there at her school library. It's nice to be so close to her." she said.

Eric nodded before turning his attention to the blonde woman who had been pretty quiet this whole time.

"What about you guys?"

"Um actually, we're engaged." Donna informed and Randy lifted up their intertwined hands—Donna's being the one that her ring was on.

"Oh." Eric managed to get out.

He really wasn't expecting that. Sure it had been years since their break up, but to find out she was engaged. That was one of the reasons behind their break-up she didn't want to get married. And now _she_ was _engaged?_ He knew he shouldn't have come back here.

"That's great." he said, his voice showing how he was forcing himself to say it. "Just recently?"

Randy shook his head "A few months ago."

"Yeah, I'm surprised your mom didn't tell you." Donna added.

"I'm not." Hyde said as he walked into the room and joined the conversation, "Mom only gets to talk to him every two weeks or so."

The five heads of Donna, Randy, Kelso, Brooke, and Fez turned to look at Eric; each of them with a frown or a shocked expression on their face. Eric tried to avoid their looks by scanning his eyes over the room.

"Dude, you only call your mom every two weeks?" asked Kelso.

Eric opened his mouth to answer but Hyde beat him to it with a snort.

"If she's lucky."

"Steven!" Jackie scolded as she glared at the curly haired man.

Hyde shrugged, "I'm just stating the facts."

"You only call your sick mother every two weeks? That's bad, man." Randy said with a shake of his head, "I use to call my grandma every other day, even when she wasn't sick."

"Ok first off, _New Guy_, you're new here so you don't get a say." Eric said pointing at the man who sat next to his ex-girlfriend, and then turned his attention to the others "Second, I do want to call her, it's just I'm busy. I've got an active life over in Seattle."

Fez frowned at the words, "I thought you said _school_ took up most of your time? School does not sound like an active life to me. Hmm?"

Eric watched his foreign friend place his hand under his chin and stare at him like he was a detective working on a case. Eric shook his head and was ready to reply when Dona interrupted.

"God, Eric. First you don't call your mother and now you're lying about it."

Eric frowned at Donna, why was she getting so upset? She and his mom weren't even that close.

"What so you've called my mom more than I have, Donna?" Eric asked in an almost mocking tone.

"No." Donna answered, it was true. Out of all of them here she probably called Kitty the least. "But I write letters to her."

"Oh."

Eric's face fell. He didn't see that coming. The idea of writing to his mother never even occurred to him. He didn't even think people still wrote letters with all the new technology.

"Well apparently, Forman here is too busy to move his red pen away from a five hundred word essay and over to a clean sheet to write a five word letter to his mother." Hyde commented.

"Alright that's enough. All of you." Jackie firmly declared as she stood up from her seat, "I know we're all going through a rough time; we're loosing a woman who's like a mother to us. But Eric is the only one here who is her biological child; he's actually loosing his mother. Think how tough of a time he's having."

The room was quiet as all eyes remained on her.

"Eric not calling and not being here when Mom needed him is bad. But he's here now and that's what's important." She went on her voice going soft for only a second or two. "So now if any of you have anything else to say to him, that isn't nice, you better just leave the room because I don't want to hear it. _At all."_

Her eyes seemed to be fixated on Hyde during the last part of her speech and he took notice of it.

"Whatever." Hyde Zenly replied before walking off to the kitchen.

"It is getting kind of late." Donna said looking down at her watch.

"Yeah," her fiancé nodded, "we should go to bed."

The couple then stood up from the bench and made their way upstairs. That left the Kelsos and Fez with Jackie and Eric.

Brooke looked down at her sleeping daughter, "Maybe I should take Betsy upstairs."

"I'll help!" Kelso was quick to volunteer.

Brooke carefully stood up from the sofa, making sure not to wake Betsy. Kelso then scooped his little girl into his arms and followed Brooke. The scene looked so natural, like it was done on a regular basis.

And then there were three.

Fez moved his head back and forth. From a glaring Jackie to a solemn looking Eric. With each turn he became more and more nervous. After many more turns he'd had enough.

"Um…I'm hungry!" he called out before running towards the kitchen.

Eric watched his friends' exit before turning to see Jackie shake her head and sit down on the couch beside him. He stared at her in bewilderment. Did Jackie, his arch enemy, just defend him, her arch enemy?

"Um thanks Jackie." he said to her cautiously, "Thanks for sticking up for me like that."

"Yeah well," she shrugged her shoulders, "They were kind of ganging up on you. And I meant what I said."

"Right." Eric nodded only to soon realize he had no clue what she was talking about. The shock must have effected his memory. "Wait what?"

Jackie shook her head, trying to hide her smile, "You not being here before is bad, but I'm glad you're here now."

"Thanks Jackie." Eric repeated, now with a smile. He was glad to know that he would at least have someone on his side.

"Any chance you could repeat that speech when Red sees me… or at least stand behind me to protect my ass from his foot?" he asked half serious half joking.

Jackie frowned, she thought Hyde had told him, "Eric, your dad's not here."

"What?" asked a confused Eric. What had happened to his dad? Did he and his mom have a fight? Were they separated? Red wasn't the kind of man to run off in times of need. Something had to have happened, "Where is he?"

"At a convention, in New York."

"Oh." Eric answered feeling a rush of relief but then confusion soon followed, "A convention? Red Forman went to a convention?"

Jackie only nodded.

"Looks like my ass is safe." he said with a large smile, for once his dad was going to be in bigger trouble than him, "If Red does get mad, I'll just remind him he went to a convention while Mom was…needed him here."

"Eric, it's not like he wanted to go." Jackie informed and Eric frowned, she sighed before continuing, "Mom wanted him to go and so he went. He left about two or three days before she got sick."

"What?"

"Steven and I have been trying to get a hold of him, but either the line gets disconnected or the hotel puts us on hold and we have to hang up because your mom needs something." she explained.

"So he doesn't know what's going on?" Eric asked and Jackie shook her head, "Well I guess my ass is safe until he gets here."

"Yours and mine both."

Eric watched the tiny brunette sigh and place her head in her hands. She looked upset and she could probably use some comforting; but he wasn't very good at that. Especially when it came to Jackie, he never even thought she knew how to feel anything besides evil.

Slowly he placed his left arm around her shoulder. At first he tired not to touch her, but then realized he would have to if he wanted to be of any comfort. Uncomfortably he let his arm rest on her right shoulder as his hand patted her left arm.

"There. There." he said awkwardly.

"He told us to take care of her, and we didn't." Jackie said as she moved her head out of her hands and looked at Eric.

"Hey, this isn't your fault." Eric said, as he noticed the unhappiness in Jackie's eyes. He then suddenly felt more comfortable and actually tightened his grip on her, "And you are taking care of Mom. You're making sure she's comfortable…you're taking better care of her than I am."

Jackie nodded slowly, "Yeah, but it was my idea to call everyone up and tell them to come visit her."

"Oh." Eric simply said, "Yeah, you're in bigger trouble than me. Maybe I should stand behind you."

Jackie let out a small laugh at Eric's comment and he himself had to smile. He was glad he had made her feel a little better, it made him feel better.

They sat there on the sofa in silence, both still smiling and Eric's comforting arm still around Jackie. He had forgotten about it until a few seconds after Jackie had shifted her eyes to his hand that was touching her arm. Quickly he pulled out of the embrace.

"Um I'm pretty tired." he said standing up on his feet, trying to regain his cool, after his quick uncoordinated escape. "You think it'd be ok if I crash here tonight? I didn't get a hotel room yet."

"Oh yeah sure." Jackie nodded as she stood up and Eric nodded, "I think I'm gonna call it a night too."

She then headed up the living room stairs, just behind Eric who was carrying his luggage. It took a second or two for Eric to realize he was being followed, once he did he looked at his 'stalker' with a confused frown.

"What are you doing?" he asked in a slightly squeaky tone of voice. Why was she following him up to his bedroom?

"I'm going to my room." she said as if it were obvious.

Eric was still confused, but less nervous, "Your room?"

Jackie sighed and rolled her eyes, "I moved into Laurie's room awhile back, remember?"

"Oh right." Eric nodded.

His 'Oh right' was said in a tone that clearly showed he didn't have a clue to what she was talking about. Again Jackie rolled her eyes, she didn't like that tone—to her it sounded like a sarcastic or annoyed one.

"That's not gonna be a problem is it?" she asked him as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"No, no, no." Eric said before laughing, "It'll be like we're in an apartment building and living across the hall from each other. Hi neighbor!" he dorkily finished as he raised his hand up to wave.

"Crap."

"I know, I know stupid joke." Eric quickly said as he threw his hands up in the air and tried to defend himself, "I'm sorry!"

"No, it's not that. But that joke was really lame." Jackie said with a shake of her head, "It's just Michael and Brooke are in your old room."

Eric furrowed his brow, "Don't they live in Chicago?"

"Yes, Mr. Smarty Pants." she said sending an annoyed glance his way, "But while they were visiting with your mom Brooke let it slip that they were staying in a hotel and your mom went into full hotel manager mode."

"Oh ok." Eric nodded, "Well I guess can crash down in the basement."

Jackie shook her head, "Steven's still living in his old room and Fez is staying on the couch down there anyways."

Eric sighed in relief. He really didn't want to stay down there because he had suspected Hyde was still in that old back room. He was right, and was grateful that Fez was staying there instead.

"Ok, that's fine." Eric commented, "I'll just stay on the couch here…"

"Donna and Randy are staying here on the pull out." Jackie informed as she racked her mind trying to find a place for Eric to sleep. She never realized how small this house was.

Eric stared at her with a sarcastic look in his eyes, "Well there's always the kitchen table."

"Ugh, don't be so dramatic." she scolded slightly before coming up with an idea, "You can stay in my room."

Jackie then started back up the steps but Eric remained still with shock. He had to have misheard her. Jackie—the devil—hadn't just said what he thought she had said. Did she? Did she just invite him to sleep with her? Well not _sleep_ but sleep?

"Um…in…in your room?" he asked from his spot.

"Yeah. Come on." she told him as if it were the most causal thing in the world.

"With…with you?"

Jackie rolled her eyes, "No. I'm staying with Mom tonight."

Eric suddenly felt the fluttering in his stomach stop. He soon began feeling better, she was just offering for him to stay in her room. The familiar feeling of guilt came over him as he realized him staying in Jackie's room would kick her out of it.

"Oh, hey you don't have to do that, Jackie." Eric protested, "I can just go to a hotel, it's really no problem."

"Yeah, until your mom finds out and kills me for letting you stay in a hotel." Jackie stated and raised up her left hand, "Now come on your staying in my room."

"I just don't…"

"Eric, don't worry." Jackie said in a comforting tone, "Before a moved in I had the place cleaned with bleach and blessed by a priest."

Eric was silent for quite a few seconds before he nodded his head, "Yeah, ok then."

~*~

It could have been the fact that he wasn't in his own bedroom in Seattle. It could've been the change of time that his body had yet to get use to. Or it could've been the barking coming from the neighbor's dog. Whatever it was, Eric couldn't sleep and found himself wide awake in Jackie's room.

It was a nice room, not at all like he remembered it being when Laurie was living in there. The only thing that remained the same was the purple paint on the walls.

Jackie had decorated the room nicely with a beautiful soft comforter with elegant purple flowers on it. The furniture, the headboard, dresser, and vanity, were all in dark mahogany wood. There were several little unicorn knick knacks around the room but other than that the room showed that a classy, mature, young woman lived here.

Feeling frustrated and wanting to sleep, Eric pulled the pillow beside him and covered his face with it. The familiar coconut fragrance filled his nostrils and he relaxed himself. If only for a second. Because almost as soon as the smell entered his nose Eric pulled the cushion off of his face and sat straight up with his eyes open and a frown in place.

When did Jackie's smell start comforting him?

This was getting too weird for him. He slung his legs out from under the covers and off of the bed. He thought maybe walking around the room a bit would help tire himself out.

He walked around the room once, sluggishly and rubbing his eyes. The second time around he took notice to his surroundings, paying attention to the little things he hadn't seen earlier.

Like the various beauty products on Jackie's vanity. He was sure glad he wasn't a girl. Eric also saw a faded copy of _'Little Women'_ on the night stand. He frowned and wondered if Jackie had finished the book yet…or even started it. Eric couldn't recall a time when he had seen Jackie reading a book…well unless you count magazines.

But what really caught Eric's eyes were the photo frames resting on the top of Jackie's dresser. There were five frames different styles and different sizes.

Eric picked up the frame that was farthest to the left. It was a wooden frame that was standing up portrait style. Inside the frame was a picture of Jackie and Red. The two were standing in the garage, they had obviously been working on Hyde's El Camino that was also in the picture. Jackie, who had a smudge of grease on her face, was smiling and waving at the camera. Red remained under the hood of the car, but if you looked closely you could see a small smirk on his lips.

Eric shook his head and placed the frame back in it's place. Jackie, Kitty, and anything evil were the only things that could make Red Forman smile.

The next picture frame Eric looked at had a fancy like sliver design as the border. To Eric's surprise the photo in this frame didn't have Jackie in it. It was a picture of his parents sitting in a restaurant. Kitty had one of her famous smiles on her face as she leaned her head against Red's shoulder. Red had his am around his wife's shoulder as he held onto her tightly and actually smiled largely at the camera. On the table in front of the couple was a round cake with the words 'Happy 30th Anniversary!' written in blue icing.

Thirty years. He wasn't sure what to be more surprised about. He couldn't believe his parents had been married for thirty years. He couldn't believe he hadn't helped them celebrate an anniversary since he left to Africa. He still couldn't believe Jackie had a picture of just his parents in her room.

Eric shifted his gaze to a smaller frame that rested between the two pervious pictures. It was an older photo taken down in the basement, and it made him smile.

This picture had to have been taken during the time that Jackie was dating Kelso, but during one of their infamous fights. The six of them all looked much younger and in most of the group shots taken when Jackie was with Hyde, she seemed to be attached to him at the hip.

In this photo however, Hyde was sitting in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest, perfectly content with sitting by himself. Across from Hyde sat Kelso in the old lawn chair. Meanwhile in the middle of the two men on the aged couch were Donna, Eric, Jackie, and Fez. In that order.

Eric looked closely at his smiling, skinny self before looking at the red-headed girl beside him. She looked happy, smiling at the camera but keeping her distance from Eric. Jackie on the other hand was scooted so close to Eric, one might have thought they were going out.

However, the closeness was probably because Fez was eating a chocolate bar that was already melting all over the place. Knowing Jackie, she probably moved closer to Eric to make sure she would remain chocolate stain free. The old Jackie would have anyways; this Jackie…Eric wasn't sure what _this_ Jackie was capable of doing.

Suddenly there was an indescribable sound coming from outside the room.

Eric frowned as he listened closely to the sound. It was clearly made by a person. A sick person who was throwing up whatever was in their system.

Still wondering which one of his friends was 'tossing their cookies,' Eric moved his eyes to the next picture. It was a four by six landscape picture in a purple colored frame. There were three people in this photo; Hyde, Jackie, and Kitty. It was obvious that the picture had been taken at a hospital; Kitty was sitting up on the hospital bed with Hyde and Jackie sitting on either side of her, the three of them smiling big smiles.

It was his mother who was making those sounds, Eric concluded after looking at the photo for a few more seconds. Just like Jackie had said, Kitty had gotten sick in the middle of the night.

Eric wondered if Jackie could handle whatever was going on in there. He was pretty sure she could, but maybe he should go in there and help out. After all, Kitty was his mother. The only thing was he wasn't so sure that he could handle it.

Taking in a deep breath he decided that it was time to stop ignoring his mother's sickness and try to help out. He'd been uninvolved in this for too long.

Eric placed his hand on the golden colored doorknob and turned it to the side before pulling it open. As soon as the door opened he saw a figure walk to the door of his parent's bedroom. Thinking quickly Eric ducked down and closed the door leaving it only an inch or two open, so he could get a good view outside.

.

As the figure reached his parents room, Eric was able to make out that it was Kelso. A very sleepy Kelso at that; his hair was sticking up in various angles, he was rubbing his eyes, and the only piece of clothing he was wearing was his red boxers.

"Mrs. Forman?" Kelso asked in a dozy tone as he knocked on the door, "Are you ok in there?"

There was silence from the other side of the door for quite a few seconds, before Kitty's voice was heard.

"Everything's fine Michael, dear." she said, not sounding too convincing, "Just go back to bed."

Kelso scratched the top of his head, trying to decide if he should believe her or not. He didn't, but he was really tired.

"Ok." he yawned, "If you say so."

From his hideout in Jackie's room, Eric watched his friend walk back to his old room. Right before Kelso reached the room he was staying in, Kitty's door opened up and Jackie came out, wearing her pink two piece pajamas set.

"Michael!" she called out to him.

Kelso quickly turned around, looking as if he had just been woken up, "Yeah?!"

Jackie waved him over to her as she looked back inside the room, checking on Kitty. Kelso, right away made his way towards Jackie—concern written on his face.

"What happened?"

"Mom just got sick." Jackie explained calmly, "It's nothing I can't handle, but I need you to do me a favor."

He nodded, "Sure thing."

"I need you to go down to the basement and let Steven know what's going on." she went on and Kelso continued to nod his head, "Tell him to bring up her medicine. He'll know which ones. Okay?"

"You got it, Jackie."

And with that said Kelso took off running as fast he could to Hyde. Once he was out of sight Jackie went back into the room closing the door behind her.

Eric sighed, feeling guilty once again. It should be him who was with his mom telling Kelso to go get Hyde. It should be him who Kelso went to go get. It should be him who knew what to do and what medicines to get. If he was asked to help out right now, he'd be running around the house like a chicken with out a head.

Kelso couldn't have been gone five minutes, when Eric saw Hyde come into view. He wasn't wearing his shades and was in a pair of gray sweatpants and white wife-beater shirt, jogging towards Kitty's room with two small orange bottles in his hand.

Eric held his breath hopping Hyde wouldn't see him. Hyde didn't even look his way; his focus seemed to be on Kitty as he made his way into the room and shut the door. The closed door blocked Eric from seeing or hearing more, except for the few muffled sounds that part of Eric wished he could understand.

~*~

Somewhere between the muffled words and Kelso coming to knock on Kitty's door again, Eric had fallen asleep. In a very uncomfortable pose, as well. He'd fallen asleep sitting up against the vanity with his head dropped towards his chest causing him to slowly fall forward.

Usually he'd feel himself starting to fall and would adjust himself then fall back into a deep sleep until having to do it again. This time when he started falling to the side, opposite of the wall, he was unable to stop himself and he crashed into the floor.

The rude awakening caused Eric to sit straight up with a frown on his face. After a few seconds of figuring out where he was, he poked his head out the door to see if anything had changed. The voices from across the hall had stopped. Just as Eric looked out, Kitty's bedroom door opened and Hyde stepped out into the hallway.

The frizzy haired man closed the door before sluggishly walking off. He was obviously very worn-out as rubbed his sunglass free eyes.

Eric wondered how long he had been asleep for. He also wondered what had happened and if everything was alright. There was only one way to find out. He stood up and held his breath before opening the door.

"Hey Hyde." He greeted, startling his adopted brother.

Hyde frowned, "Forman man, what the hell are you doing up?"

"Um nothing." Eric lied, "Is um everything alright with Mom?"

"Oh yeah, now you wanna know." Hyde commented with a roll of his eyes.

It was Eric's turn to frown. He knew Hyde was mad at him, he had every right to be but did he really have to acting like this _now_?

"Hyde, come on man…" he began to say, starting to show his anger in his voice.

"She got sick, ok." Hyde said before Eric could go on, "But it's nothing me and Jackie couldn't handle."

"Oh, ok." Eric nodded understanding, "But she's good now right?"

"She's…ok." Hyde answered before walking past Eric.

Eric wasn't sure how to respond, so he just stood there nodding his head and starting at his mother's door. 'Ok' wasn't the answer he was hoping for. The answer he had hoped to hear went something like 'Yeah, man she's great. Turns out the doctors made a mistake and she's gonna out live us all.' Like that would happen.

It took a few more minutes of watching the closed entrance, before Eric understood what he had to do.

He took a few baby steps closer to the door. However, before he could reach the doorknob, Hyde's voice stopped him and caused him to turn around.

"I don't want you going in there now, man." Hyde firmly told him.

Eric's frown reappeared, if not a bit deeper. Why was Hyde trying to stop him? Didn't he want him to be here days earlier? Wasn't he making a big deal about him not being here for his mom before? Now he was stopping him?! Probably because he was enjoying being _the favorite son_.

"Look Hyde, I know you've been taking care of Mom and all but you can't tell me that I can't see her." Eric fired back, "She's my mom not yours."

Eric didn't realize those words had actually left his mouth until he saw Hyde's face. It showed hurt for a second and then anger for another, and then his Zen took over.

"I don't want you going in there because she's asleep. If you go in there and she wakes up, she'll get excited and stay up talking to you. She needs to sleep, she needs her rest." Hyde told Eric looking him straight in the eye, "She's your mom, you should know that."

And then he was gone, leaving Eric alone as he played his father's words in his head over and over again.

"Dumbass."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__There you go Chapter 4 of "Two Weeks" I told you it was long. Hope you liked!_

_Be sure to come back next week to find out if Eric sees Kitty and what'll happen when he does!_

_Oo and don't forget about Valentines Day coming out Friday. It's got both Ashton and Tropher! Isn't that awesome?! Kinda weird too they were the ones who left the show in season 8 and they're doing a movie together. Go figure, I don't really care I'm just excited to see their names together again it means were close to a reunion show lol._

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, see you next Monday, take care, and have a nice day!_


	6. A Barrel of Fun

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello All! Happy…eh never mind. So sorry for not posting yesterday, things were really hectic over here, I mean really hectic. I know Monday's are usually hectic, but this Monday was really really really really hectic. Please forgive my tardiness! Thanks for the reviews you guys, esp Marla and harmonious, who reviewed my last chapter. This chapter is not as long, no worries. Um quick little notes as always. First off I am not a doctor nor am I planning to be one. Though I am think about getting into the medical field…Second note, though I know I just posted late this week I may be posting late again next week. I'm not sure. I have to go out of town this weekend and we're not sure if we're coming back Sunday or Monday. But if I can I finish the next chapter, get reviews, and find out we're coming back on Monday I will try to post before I leave. If not it's either be late Monday or early Tuesday. Ok that's enough with the notes, on with the reading. Enjoy! _

* * *

"_And that's when I decided that nursing was for me." Kitty said to the camera with a smile._

"_Huh, didn't know that." Hyde said, "Ok um how about…"_

"_Kitty." Red's voice was heard from the kitchen, "Your dumbass son is on the phone."_

_Though the camera was shooting the side of Kitty's face, as she looked over at the kitchen door, her excitement could easily be seen._

"_Eric?"_

"_The dumbass." Red repeated._

_Kitty waved her hand towards the door before quickly reaching over to the phone on the side table. She smiled and began talking into the telephone, forgetting all about the camera that was still filming._

"_Eric, honey, is that you?" she asked and there was a pause before her smile grew, "Oh it is so good to hear your voice! How are you sweetie? Are you eating enough? Are you drinking milk? I know you're not a baby anymore but you're still a growing boy."_

_Hyde left the camera on, take the chance to film the rare scene. There were a lot of 'Uh huhs' from Kitty and some 'That's nice.' All the while her smile never left her face._

"_Hey dumbass number two." Red called out and Hyde moved the camera away from Kitty to find Red back in his chair, "Turn that damn thing off."_

"_It is off."_

_Red raised an eyebrow in disbelief, "Oh? Then what's with the red light?" _

"_It's the off light." Hyde replied unconvincingly._

_The camera caught footage of Red rolling his eyes before swinging back to Kitty._

"_Ok honey, well thanks for calling. I love you. Bye. "she then placed the receiver back on its base and turned her attention back to the running camera. She smiled a small smile hoping to hide the shine in her eyes, "He's a very busy boy."_

_~*~_

Eric lay in Jackie's bed covered by the cozy comforter from head to toe, fast asleep. He'd had a rough night after his run in with Hyde. He'd felt bad about what he'd said but he couldn't go talk to him about it. He was too young to die.

It was a good thing he wasn't in Seattle and didn't have a class to teach. His plans for today consisted of staying in this bed and figuring out just how he was going to face his parents. Actually that plan would probably take a long while to figure out, but that was ok, Jackie's bed was really comfortable.

In the real world he let out a loud snore, but in his dreams he was Luke Skywalker fighting off stormtroopers. He was close to defeating them all, only two were left standing when suddenly…

"_Gonna use my arms, gonna use my legs, gonna style, gonna use my side step, gonna use my fingers, gonna use my my imagination." _

Eric's eyes flew open. He didn't remember that in _Star Wars_. Listening more closely to the voice, he tried to identify its owner. It wasn't exactly Chrissie Hynde but then again it sounded better than Lucy Ricardo's singing. Ever so carefully, he pulled the blanket down so his eyes could take a peak at the singer. The sight that greeted him wasn't exactly what he was expecting.

The star singer was the owner of the room, Jackie Burkhart. Of course, Eric was surprised that Jackie was singing, that she_ could_ sing. But what really caught him off guard was that Jackie, singing Jackie, had her back to him giving him a good view of her backside that was topples except for a black bra.

"_I'm special, so special, I gotta have some of your attention give it to me!"_ she continued to sing oblivious to the fact that she had an audience audience.

Eric's wide eyes watched Jackie's jean covered hips swing back and forth as she sang. He didn't know why he couldn't tear his eyes away from the scene; well tear them away without moving them up higher to the tiny piece of material. This was Jackie. Jackie Burkhart. Jackie Burkhart the devil!

With Eric's eyes still on her, Jackie went on with her singing and dancing while she got herself dressed for the day. As she pulled her navy blue blouse down over her head, she turned herself around to head to her vanity.

Thinking quickly, Eric pulled the blanket over his head. He didn't want her thinking he was watching her. Well he had been watching her but not in _that _way. Not really…not…not like Fez.

He held his breath and hoped that she hadn't seen him. He closed his eyes, so that if she had seen him and decided to pull the covers off of him, he could pretend to be asleep. However, whenever he closed his eyes he was greeted by the sight of Jackie in only her pants and bra. Quickly he reopened his eyes, but then he remembered he had to pretend he was asleep or he would be in trouble. Eric closed his eyes again only to find that there was trouble there too.

For several seconds Eric switched from closed eyes to opened eyes and then opened eyes to closed eyes; that is until he felt someone kick the side of the bed.

"Get up, faker."

Clearly surprised, Eric uncovered his face and saw Jackie standing beside the bed, her arms crossed and a frown on her face. Oh no, she knew.

"Um…how…how did you know I was faking?" Eric asked in a nervous high pitched tone.

Slowly a smile creped onto her face, "I didn't until now."

Eric's face dropped, he walked right into that. At least she hadn't said anything about him being a Peeping Tom.

"Come on, get up." Jackie ordered, still smiling from Eric's reaction, "I need to make my bed."

"Yeah, ok." Eric reluctantly agreed and began climbing out of the bed, "What time is it anyways?"

Jackie looked down at her watch, "Almost nine."

"What?!" he screeched out in shock, "That means it's only like seven in Seattle. No way, I'm not waking up yet. Good night."

Jackie watched as Eric, a now fully grown young man, acted like a child being woken up to go to school. One minute he was up on his feet in his pajamas, the next he was snug deep into the sheets.

"Eric, you're not in Seattle anymore." Jackie reminded with a roll of her eyes, "You're in Point Place."

"You don't have to remind me." He muttered from his cocoon.

Jackie sighed, "Come on, you were already awake before."

"Yeah," Eric answered as he uncovered his face and looked straight at Jackie, "because I was woken up by Edith Bunker's singing."

Jackie's jaw dropped as her expression showed hurt before turning angry; meanwhile Eric had just realized what he'd said. Oops.

A now frowning Jackie walked closer to the bed and Eric became frightened. He'd seen Angry Jackie and Angry Jackie was worse than Regular Jackie—which was still pretty bad. Angry Jackie kicked. Hard.

Hurriedly Eric jumped up and off of the bed, being sure to land on the opposite side of where Jackie was standing.

"I'm sorry! I'm up! I'm up!" he announced, trying to protect himself, "Please don't kick me!"

"Good." Jackie answered, her smile now back on her lips, "Now get dressed, I don't want your mom thinking all you wear is dumb superhero shirts."

Eric looked down at the faded blue t-shirt with Captain America's shield on it; he didn't see anything wrong with it. Then he grasped what Jackie had just said. He looked up and found her fixing the sheets over her mattress.

"Wait, my mom?"

"Yeah, you know the woman who gave birth to you?" she said before turning her head to look at him, "You're gonna see her."

Eric gulped, "Today?"

"No, three days from now." Jackie answered sarcastically, "God, you're dumb in the morning."

"And you're just a peach." Came Eric's reply in a very similar tone.

Jackie sighed as she placed the last pillow in its place, "I'm sorry."

'_Did she just apologize?_' Eric frowned as he watched Jackie sit down on the now made bed. Cautiously he walked over and took a seat beside her. He sat quietly, deciding to wait and see if she was going to say anything else.

"I just had kind of a hard night." Jackie explained as she shook her head a bit, "Mom got sick last night…"

"Yeah, I know." Eric nodded and Jackie frowned.

"You know?"

"Well I heard…"

Now she glaring at him, "You heard and you didn't help?"

"No... I mean I wanted to. I did! I even went out into the hallway." He tried to make himself sound better, "But then…I…I ran into Hyde."

"Oh." Jackie said, now fully understanding.

"Yeah, he's pretty scary at four in the morning."

"He's pretty scary throughout the day." Jackie joked and Eric smiled, "But he'll come around. Just give him some time."

Eric sighed, "Yeah I know. And with my luck, by the time Hyde starts to forgive me I'll have to deal with Red."

"That's what you get for being Eric Forman." Jackie replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Yup. See that's why I think it would be cool to be Spiderman, I wouldn't have to be Eric Forman." He paused, "Well that and I'd have spidey senses."

Jackie laughed and shook her head and Eric smiled. He hadn't realized what a great sound her laugh was.

"Alright, I think you've stalled enough." She told Eric as she stood up, "It's time to get dressed so you can see your mom."

"Jackie…" Eric began to protest.

"Relax. I know you're not looking forward to this, because you don't know what you're gonna say to her." Jackie interrupted him, "But you'll have plenty of time to think about it over breakfast."

"Wow, it's been forever since I had a homemade breakfast." He shared, "What's Brooke making?"

Jackie stopped walking to the bedroom door and turned herself back around, "You know Brooke isn't the only one who can cook in this house."

"Well yeah I know that, I just figured with Mom being…oh no." Eric said and his face fell as he figured out who she was talking about, "You…_you_ made breakfast?"

Jackie happily smiled back, "Yes I did."

"Yeah, I'm going back to bed."

Before Jackie knew it, Eric was back in her bed messing it up all over again. He got under the covers and threw it over his head once again. Jackie glared at him as she marched herself over to him, not sure of what she was more mad at him for—insulting her cooking or messing up her bed. Whatever it was had her fuming and she was not going to let him get away with it.

"That's it, Forman!" she said through clenched teeth as she reached down.

"Hey!" Eric exclaimed.

Jackie had pulled the comforter off of Eric, once again.

"Get up!"

"No!" Eric shouted back as he reached up and grabbed the blanket out of Jackie's hands and recovered himself.

Jackie reached down again and grabbed the blanket, only this time Eric kept hold of the sheet. "Get out of my bed!"

"Make me!" Eric replied as he sat up a bit to get a better grip on the cover.

Jackie fought back by holding on tighter and trying to back herself up, "That's what I'm trying to do! Now get up!"

"No!" Eric argued before using all his strength to pull the covers back to him.

He was successful in getting the sheet back over him only thing was, a tiny brunette was still attached to it. Eric had pulled the sheet so hard that when it came back to rest on top of him Jackie came with it; making her land right on top of him, her face inches away from his.

Neither one of them knew what to do. Neither one of them moved. Instead they both just lay there looking into the other's eyes, seeing the surprise that was there.

"Whatcha you doing?"

The eye contact was broken as the two of them turned their heads to the right side of where they were. There they saw Betsy Kelso standing and smiling away as she clutched the new doll Kitty had given her yesterday.

Jackie quickly jumped off of the once scrawny boy and onto her feet. Of course nothing had happened but Betsy was only six and a Kelso, there was no telling what she could tell the others.

"Um nothing. Nothing sweetie." She reassured the little girl, "I was just trying to wake up your sleepy Uncle Eric here."

Eric smiled and waved at the little girl.

"Ooohhh." Betsy nodded, "Whenever I don't wake up, Daddy carries me to the table to eat my _Froot Loops_."

"You know Betsy, I think that's a good idea." She smiled at the little girl before looking over at Eric, "Let's go tell your daddy to come get Uncle Eric."

Eric's eyes became wide. He didn't want Kelso carrying him downstairs. He didn't want Kelso touching him at all.

"No, no that's ok!" he called out as he hopped out of bed, "I'm up!"

Jackie smirked and then looked down at Betsy, "Come on Betsy, let's let Uncle Eric get dressed."

"Okay." Betsy agreed as she skipped her way to the door.

Eric watched the two of them get ready to leave. A feeling of relief came over him. He could finally go back to having some peace in quiet, heck he might even be able to go back to sleep for a few minutes too.

Jackie looked back at Eric and noticed the smile on his face and the far away look in his eyes. She didn't like that look.

"Hey Bets, remember that song we were singing yesterday?" she asked and the little girl nodded, "You wanna sing it again?"

"Yeah!"

"_Cause I'm gonna make you see there's nobody else here, no one like me_." The two girls sang as they both dance out of the room, Betsy leading the way. "_I'm special so special I gotta have some of your attention give it to me." _

Eric held back a laugh as he watched them exit. Just as the Jackie got ready to close the wooden door, Eric was about to release a loud chuckle but stopped the instant Jackie reopened the door and looked over at him.

"By the way Eric, you are special." She called out to him and he had to smile. Jackie smiled back and tilted her head before finishing, "Ed."

~*~

After taking about twenty minutes to get showered and dressed, Eric found himself walking into his mother's kitchen.

It was strange walking into the room, that looked exactly as it did years ago, and not seeing his mother standing behind the stove cooking up something delicious. There was a sting in his heart, as he realized all those mouth-watering meals would soon just be memories.

He tried to ignore the pain and concentrate on his friends who filled the room, each of them doing their own thing.

Donna and Randy were sitting at the round table talking to each other about something Eric really wasn't interested in hearing. Brooke sat across from them with Betsy on her lap as she tried to explain to her that they weren't having _Froot Loops_ today. In the middle of the table sat Fez and Kelso as they had one of their infamous arguments.

"How can you say pirates are better than ninjas?!" Kelso asked, his voice getting louder with each word.

"Like this," Fez cleared his throat, "pirates are better than ninjas!"

"Na ah!"

"Ya- ha!"

"Come on you guys, not this again." Eric said joining the conversation, "This is an argument that will never be solved. Just like the 'Who's hotter Samantha or Jeanie Argument.'"

"Samantha!" Fez exclaimed.

"Jeanie!" Kelso shouted at the same time.

As his friends went into the thousandth round of this fight, Eric had to smile. He was glad that at least _some_ things never changed.

He saw Jackie standing by the flowered coffee pot, pouring the hot liquid into two cups. He walked over to her and frowned.

"I thought you said you made breakfast?"

"It's coming." Jackie reassured with a smile before offering him one of the yellow mugs.

Eric gratefully accepted it. While he started to finish preparing his coffee, adding some cream and just a bit of sugar, the glass door slid open and Hyde walked inside with two medium sized white paper bags in his hands.

"Here's breakfast." He announced in his Zen fashion, as he placed the bags on the table, "Get it's while it's hot."

Eric watched as the group practically attacked the _McDonalds_ takeout bags. They reached in coming out with boxes of pancakes and handfuls of hash browns. He frowned and looked at Jackie who was still standing beside him.

"You made breakfast?"

"Made, bought." She shrugged, "Same diff."

A few minutes later, everyone was situated with their choice of breakfast on their paper plates. Hyde had joined the group at the table, taking the last free chair. This wasn't a problem for Eric, he wasn't exactly comfortable sitting with everyone just yet, he was happy sitting by himself on the barstool. He didn't however, expect Jackie to take the seat next to him.

The gang ate in silence, until Jackie—not surprisingly—spoke up.

"So what's everyone doing today?" she asked looking up from the pancake she was cutting.

One by one they all turned their heads to look at her, giving her their own 'Are you seriously asking that?' expression. Jackie frowned back at them, not seeing the big deal.

"What?"

"Jackie, we came to see Mrs. Forman." Donna stated, not sure why she was repeating this.

"Yeah, and you guys saw her." Jackie replied, "You guys didn't really think you were gonna be visiting with her all day, did you?"

She took the silence as a 'yes.'

"You guys, she needs to rest; to get some sleep. You can't be up there the whole day." She said with a shake of her head, "Besides, Mom doesn't want you guys hanging around the house all day, doing nothing. _I_ don't want you guys hanging around here all day."

Jackie's words did little to erase the looks that had been given. She sighed and decided to give it another shot.

"If you don't wanna do it for me, which should be reason enough, do it for her."

Donna looked over at her fiancé, "Well I guess we could go to The Hub."

"Yeah, I'll finally get to see the place." Randy nodded, "And it'll only be for a little bit."

Jackie smiled and nodded. Two down, five left to go. And she knew the perfect way to get rid of four of them.

"Hey Brooke, why don't you guys head over to _Funland_? I'm sure Betsy would love it."

Betsy's face lit up as did her father's and Uncle Fez's. Brooke however paid no attention to the three and shook her head.

"No I don't think so, Jackie." she smiled at looked down at her daughter, "Betsy's already gonna miss a couple of days from school, she's having enough fun."

"Ok." Jackie nodded, "But what about those two?" she asked pointing at Kelso and Fez.

Brooke turned her head to her right, expecting to find both grown men acting like children, to her surprise it was only Fez. That was because her husband had made his way to her left side. Both men were down on their knees, their hands laced together, and their eyes in full sad puppy dog mode.

"Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please!" the two begged, getting louder and whiner with each 'Please!'

"Fine." Brooke sighed, trying her best not to smile.

"Yes!" three voice cheered out.

"But Michael, you have to stay with us the _whole_ time." Brooke went on, "I don't want you getting lost."

"Yeah, yeah." Kelso answered as he waved his hand at his wife and kept his attention towards Fez, "Man Fez, this is gonna be so great!"

"Yes, _Funland_ is full of fun!" Fez agreed with a large smile on his face, "That must be why they call it _Funland_!"

"Hey yeah!" Kelso agreed.

"I bet you I can eat more funnel cakes than you can, before throwing up." Fez challenged.

Kelso grinned, "Oh you are so on, Little Buddy!"

"Me too! Me too!" Betsy cheered from her mother's lap.

Brooke looked over at Jackie and shot her a look that said, in a sarcastic way, 'thanks a lot.' Jackie smiled in return before looking over at the remaining person who she needed to get out of the house. He was going to be the hardest, and he was the one she really needed to get rid of.

"Steven," she called out, "what are your plans for the day?"

"What do you mean, 'what are my plans for the day?'" Hyde asked gruffly, from behind his shades, "The same thing I've been doing these past few days: taking care of Mom and trying to get a hold of Red and The Earth Mother Whore."

Jackie frowned softly, "What about _Grooves_?"

"What about it?" Hyde asked turning his attention back to the breakfast he'd barely touched.

"Steven, you haven't been there in almost a week."

"Yeah so?" he shrugged, "It's my store."

Jackie shook her head slightly, "It's W.B.'s."

"Look Jackie, W.B. already knows Mom's been sick." Hyde explained, "I'll just let him know what's going on and that'll be the end of it. I'll call him when I make the other phone calls I need to make."

"Eric and I can handle making those phone calls."

Clearly frustrated, Hyde dropped his plastic fork onto the table and looked at Jackie.

"I know you can handle making the calls, _Jackie_. But I don't want you to." Hyde firmly told her, "I'm not needed at the store, not like I'm needed here. And unlike some people when I'm needed somewhere, I'm there."

Eric looked down at his plate; he knew perfectly well that those words were directed at him. He kept his head down, waiting until he heard his kettle head friend yell out the word 'Burn!' But it never came. Frowning slightly he looked up to see that Hyde had left the room.

He looked around at the silent, remaining occupants. Randy and Donna were exchanging looks while Fez mindlessly dunked his pancake into the pool of syrup and Kelso smashed his hash browns with a fork; Brooke kept her attention on Betsy hair as Betsy played with her doll. Jackie simply sat in her seat next to Eric, with a disappointed look on her face.

"You know, I don't think you guys have to go to _Funland_ after all." Eric said out loud, "Because I have a feeling this place, is gonna be a barrel of fun."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__There you go Chapter 5 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Be sure to come back next week to see if Eric will finally Kitty and if Hyde will finally get a hold of Red._

_Oh and if you could, check out my new poll and vote! Thanks!_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, see you next Monday (hopefully) take care, and have a nice day!_


	7. I've Gotta Get Outta Here

_**Disclaimer: **__I own….nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Surprise! Okay not really a surprise since it is Monday but remember I said I might not be able to post today cause of me going out of town but I did so surprise! Lol Thanks so much for all the reviews you guys, I'm sorry I didn't get to message some of you this last week just flew by for me and this week is gonna be a little hectic too, my first midterm for college algebra, 'yippee.' Just another reminder I am not a doctor the only person in my family who is in the medical field is my uncle and he does something with the blood or something. Thanks again for all the reviews and I hope you'll continued to review, cause those things really keep me going! Thanks again and Enjoy!_

* * *

_Kitty shook her head as she looked at the camera, "I never smothered you kids."_

"_Ha." Red said from his chair, causing Kitty to look his way and send him a glare._

"_What was that, Red?"_

_Hyde swung the camera just in time to see Red give a small smile as he looked away from his paper and over to Kitty._

"_Nothing, sweetheart."_

_The camera moved back to Kitty, who was still looking at her husband and not looking very convinced. She shook her head before looking back at Hyde and the camera._

"_Well if I did smother you all, it was only because Red was so tough on you kids."_

"_I had to be tough." Red called out and the camera moved back to him, "The world is a tough place, Kitty. I was getting them ready for it. You were the one who hurt them with all of those damn hugs."_

_Hyde moved the camera back to Kitty just before she could answer._

"_So the world is a place that has no hugs?" she asked with a frown._

"_No." Red replied, "But it should be."_

"_Oh, Red…"_

_And then they were off. Hyde did his best as he moved the camera back and forth making sure to film the person who was talking and still be able to catch the reaction of the other person. _

"_And this kids." Hyde said as he continued to swing the camera from Red to Kitty "Is the weekly debate of 'The Right Way to Raise Kids.'"_

_He filmed a few more seconds of the argument before speaking again._

"_Can you believe they raised seven kids, together?"_

_Kitty sighed and raised her hands up, stopping Red from saying anymore._

"_Ok, ok. You can say what you want, Red." she finally gave in, "But it won't be important, because this is my video and it's what I say that is important."_

_One more time, Hyde shifted the camera back over at his surrogate father and caught him rolling his eyes in annoyance._

"_And I think it is important to hug your children and show them just how much you love them. Babying them every once in awhile is ok." she went on, "Because if you don't, they could turn into a grumpy old man."_

_Kitty sent her husband a knowing look and Hyde laughed. However, he didn't move the camera to Red's direction because Kitty had already started talking again._

"_And you're never too old to be babied." _

"_Come on, Mom." Hyde said as he got ready to disagree, "I know me and Jackie and everyone else haven't reached that age…and we probably won't for a long time. But there's gotta be some cut off point, right?"_

"_Nope." Kitty answered with a shake of her head, "The law may say that you're adults but you all will always be my little babies."_

~*~

It was well into the afternoon now. Everyone had gone off to do just what they had said they would do, during breakfast. Donna and Randy had left to The Hub. They also planned on visiting the old radio station Donna use to work at after wards. The Kelsos and Fez had left to _Funland_. Betsy was happy to go but Kelso and Fez seemed to be even more excited.

With more than half of the group out of the house, the remaining three went on to do their own things. By themselves.

After his exit from the kitchen during breakfast, Hyde had gone up to visit with Kitty. About an hour and a half later he had decided to come downstairs, to let Kitty get some rest and so he could give calling Red and Laurie another try.

Eric was keeping himself entertained in the basement by watching TV on the old set. He wanted to stay as far away from Hyde as he could. It was his own good.

Jackie, meanwhile, was up in the kitchen. She had cleared up the table and attempted to sweep up the floor, but after missing the dust pan three times she put the broom away and pulled out the latest issue of _People Magazine_.

In between articles though, Jackie would get up and check to see where Hyde was. She knew he was still mad at Eric—heck a blind and deaf man could figure that out—but she also knew that Eric had to see his mother. Even if he didn't want to.

After finishing a review on the new movie, _'Ferris Bueller's Day Off,_' Jackie dog-eared the page and stood up to walk over to the swinging door.

Ever so carefully she pushed open the door and stuck her head out to find Hyde standing in the room with the telephone against his left ear and his back towards the stairs. Good so far. Now all Jackie had to do was listen to his side of the conversation to find out just how much time she had to get Eric out of the basement and sneak him past Hyde and up to Kitty's room.

"Red Forman." Hyde repeated into the receiver, "He's there for a veteran's convention." there was a pause and then Hyde's frustration made it's way out, "No, I don't know what room he's in, but I know you people do."

"So…No. No, don't put me on hold. I have something extremely important to tell him. You can't put me on hold. Don't…." Hyde tried to stop the person on the other end but failed and instead heard the waiting music instead of a person trying to contact Red.

"Damn it." Hyde grumbled and then waited in silence for a few seconds before the tune began to catch on.

"Don't tell me what it's all about." he sang in annoyance before getting into it_, "Cause I've been there and I'm glad I'm out. Out of those chains those chains that behind you, that is why I'm here to remind you…"_

Jackie covered her mouth to try and stifle her laugh as she watched her ex-boyfriends performance. She practically used all of her strength to pull herself away from the scene and over to the basement.

"Hey Eric," she called down the wooden stairs, "there's some new spoilers for the new _Star Wars_ movie in this magazine!"

Not two seconds later Eric was at her side trying to catch his breath.

"I knew that would get you up here." Jackie smirked, "Come on."

Eric furrowed his brow, he thought he was coming up here to get some juicy details about _Star Wars_. Following Jackie would not lead him to anything that dealt with Star Wars. He was sure of it.

"Wait Jackie, where are we going?" he asked as followed behind Jackie while she walked through the dinning room and to his father's den.

"Sh!" she told him glaring back at him, "Do you want to see your mother or not?"

"What about Hyde?" Eric asked not answering her question, because he didn't know if he was ready to see his mother just yet.

"Sh!" she told him again before looking out through the entrance of the den and into the living room.

Hyde was still on the phone, still singing along to the waiting tone. Eric followed Jackie's eyes and saw his adoptive brother and held back a laugh. Though he couldn't stop himself from smiling and wishing he had a camera.

Eric felt a slight nudge on his left shoulder and looked over to see Jackie moving her head towards the staircase with her index finger over her lips. Eric nodded, he had no idea what had caused him to do so, but he did. Then Jackie took the lead up the stairway with Eric not far behind.

They managed to go up the stairs quickly and quietly and most importantly unnoticed by Hyde.

"Ok, go on." Jackie said to Eric once they were in front of Kitty's room.

Eric stared at the closed door. He couldn't bring himself to turn that knob and go inside; he didn't know what he would find on the other side. Of course it would be his mother, but would it really be her? Would she look so sick and frail that he wouldn't be able to recognize her? Maybe she wouldn't even want to see him; it had been a while since his last visit.

He couldn't do this it was too soon.

He sighed, "Jackie…"

"Fine I'll go in first." she told him, sounding slightly annoyed.

That wasn't exactly what he had planned, but it did sound better than going in alone. Wait he'd rather go into a room with Jackie than go in alone? When did that start happening?

He watched her walk closer to the door and just before she pushed open the door, she swung around, gave Eric a serious look and pointed her finger at him. She kind of reminded Eric of Red. Except maybe not as scary.

"But you better not take off." she told him, "I'll chase after you and I'm wearing my pointy shoes!'

That was all Eric needed to know. He rapidly nodded his head up and down causing Jackie to smile before she turned her attention back to entering Kitty's room.

"Wait here." She ordered and then open his mother's bedroom door and stepped inside, making sure to close it behind her.

"Hey Mom." Jackie greeted with a smile once she was in the room, "How are you feeling?"

Kitty smiled, not her usual Kitty smile but a still a smile. She had been writing something down on a yellow legal pad but stopped and put it face down on the night stand when Jackie came in.

"I'm doing alright, dear."

"Good." Jackie nodded before hopping onto the bed beside her, taking Red's usual space. She smiled largely at her adoptive mother, "Guess what I did."

Kitty turned towards the tiny brunette and tried to hide her frown with an uncertain smile, "Jackie sweetie, the last time you said that, you had done the laundry and had turned everyone's whites pink."

"But they were clean." Jackie was quick to remind.

"Yes they were." Kitty smiled back and patted the young girls hand, "Now what did you do this time?"

"I got a surprise for you." she sing-songed with a grin as she climbed off the bed before she headed back to the door she had come through.

Kitty watched with a frown, wondering just what Jackie was talking about. Jackie slowly pulled the door open and revealed to Kitty a sight she had longed to see for months.

Kitty's frown immediately disappeared and shock took its place before a large Kitty like smile replaced that. Eric just stood in his spot, a tiny smile on his face.

He raised up his opened left hand, "Hey Mom."

"Oh Eric, my baby!" Kitty cried as her eyes became glassy with tears.

Kitty then threw the covers off of her legs and slowly started to climb out of bed. Eric watched wide-eyed as his mother took a few steps toward him and looked over to Jackie. He didn't know if her walking was normal, if she was even supposed to be walking. But instead of catching Jackie's eyes he found that she was already at his mother's side.

"Mom no, you have to get back into bed." Jackie said holding onto Kitty's IV free arm.

"Oh Jackie, I'm fine.' Kitty argued, "I want to go welcome my baby boy. He hasn't been home in months, he deserves a good ol' motherly welcoming."

"But you shouldn't be…"Jackie began to protest.

Eric noticed the obvious trouble Jackie was having and he could tell more would probably come. He didn't want that, so he decided to step in.

"Um ok." he said getting the two women's attention, "Hey Mom, how about I meet you in the middle?"

Kitty smiled and nodded, "Ok."

Kitty took only a few more steps forward while Eric made his trip longer and faster. He had noticed that Jackie apparently didn't think it was a good idea for Kitty to be moving faster or more than she should—and so he decided to try to keep her from doing so.

As soon as Eric was close enough to her, Kitty wrapped her arms around his neck and used all her strength to hug him towards her. All her strength budged him only a few inches. Eric was surprised at how weak his mother actually was, but he didn't want her to know, so he leaned down and hugged her back hopping he didn't hurt her.

Jackie watched from the side. She smiled at the scene, proud of herself for helping create it.

"I knew you'd come." Kitty whispered to Eric while she continued to hold onto him.

Eric remained silent. He didn't want to tell her the truth about him almost not coming, how he wouldn't even be here if Jackie hadn't scarred him over the phone. Instead he just tightened his grip on her.

"Mom," Jackie called out in a soft yet still firm voice, "I think you should lie back down."

Kitty slowly let go of her son and then looked over at Jackie. She sighed and shook her head before getting back into the bed with some help from Jackie.

"My little watchdog." Kitty joked to Eric as she gestured towards Jackie who smiled and went back to standing off to the side.

Eric smiled and took a seat at the foot of the bed.

"Ha ha." He said as he pointed at the brunette, "She called you a dog."

"You better watch it, Eric." She told him with her arms crossed over her chest, "My bite is even worse than my bark."

The mocking smile he had on before vanished at Jackie's words. What did she mean by that? Was that like a real warning? Was it a threat? Did she really bite? Wait was it some kind of sexual comment? Did she…"

"Eric." Kitty called for the fifth time, at last getting his attention.

"I'm sorry, what Mom?" he asked with a confused scowl after shaking his previous thoughts out of his head.

"I was asking how you were."

"Oh." He answered with a nod and then realized he hadn't exactly answered the question, "Oh! Oh yeah, no I'm good."

His mother smiled, "Good."

"Yeah." Eric smiled back, "How about you Mom, how are you?" before Kitty could answer Eric realized what he had asked wasn't the greatest question, he quickly tried to cover himself but that was easier said than done. The two women frowned as he rambled on. "No I mean, I know how you're doing. I meant you look good…I mean no you don't. I mean you do but…"

"Eric, Eric, honey." Kitty interrupted as she put her hand over his, getting him to quiet down, "It's ok. I know what you're trying to say."

Eric frowned. He didn't even know what he was trying to say, "You do?"

"Well, I think I do." Kitty answered honestly with a small smile, "But I don't want to talk about me. Let's talk about something else."

Eric nodded, that seemed like a good idea. But how could they not talk about her and…_this whole thing_. It was like an elephant in the room. But if he had avoided it for this long, he shouldn't have too much of a problem. Except for one.

"Like what?" he asked

"Well…" Kitty thought for a few seconds, "Oh I know. How's your class doing?"

"They're great." Eric smiled as he thought about his fifth grade class over in Seattle; they were a great group of kids. He loved that class and they loved him. His classroom 203 was more of a home than the place he was actually living was.

"They're all passing too with high A's and B's." He told his smiling mother, "Well except for one kid, but he eats glue so I don't think it's really all my fault."

Kitty smiled and nodded along as Eric continued talking about work over in Seattle.

"Oh and yours truly is up for teacher of the year." Eric proudly shared as he puffed up his chest out some.

"Oh sweetie, that's wonderful." Kitty said as she gestured for Eric to move closer, when he did she enveloped him in another hug, "I'm so proud of you."

Eric smiled as he pulled out of the embrace, "Thanks Mom, but I haven't won yet."

"But you will."

"Maybe." He shrugged, "I mean I did have something that the other two teachers didn't have."

"What was that?" Kitty questioned.

"Perfect attendance."

Kitty's smile fell and a feeling of remorse came over her, "Oh honey, I'm…I'm sorry." She shook her head, "If I hadn't gotten so sick you wouldn't have had to fly all the way out here. You could be in class and still have your perfect attendance. And you'd have a better chance of getting that award."

Eric frowned in his mother's direction for a few seconds. He didn't want her to feel bad about getting her getting sick. He looked over at Jackie or some help, but she just lifted her hands up in a way that let him know she was staying out of it.

"Mom, it's ok." He tried to reassure her, "Really. Those guys have missed like fifteen and seventeen days. I'm only gonna miss like two."

Both Kitty and Jackie looked at him.

"Two days?" his mother asked.

"Yeah." Eric nodded, "Well maybe three, since I got here yesterday…"

Kitty looked over at Jackie giving her a '_He was here yesterday and you didn't tell me'_ look, but Jackie kept her eyes on Eric. He hadn't mentioned this two days deal to her before.

"See I'm gonna go back to Seattle late tomorrow night. Then I'll go to school, teach Thursday and Friday." Eric began to explain, "Then I'll get back on a plane Friday night and I'll be here for the weekend or you know until Sunday because that's the day I'll leave so I can be back in Seattle for Monday."

Jackie's frown deepened with each word Eric said. She couldn't believe he was going to leave, tomorrow to top it off. Everyone else had made plans to stay at least for the whole week, but Eric, Kitty's son was leaving tomorrow. She shook her head and looked over at Kitty, luckily she didn't look to upset; too bad she couldn't say the same for herself.

She released a deep, loud, upset sigh before exiting the room. Eric frowned and turned around to catch the end of Jackie's exit. Why was she mad? Why was she more upset than his mom?

"You're coming back though, right?"

Eric turned back around to face his mother. She looked at him with sad almost wishful eyes. He couldn't tell her 'no,' even though he wasn't exactly sure he could make himself come back here again. He'd had a hard enough time this time around.

But slowly he nodded, "Yeah."

"Good. That's all I need to know." Kitty told him before letting out a small laugh, "Now come on, let's finish talking. Are you still living in that little room?"

"Apartment." Eric corrected with a smile, his old place had been pretty small. He had to set up his bed in the living room "And no. I am still living in the same building, but I've got a different place. It's a two bedroom."

Kitty smiled, "Ooh fancy."

"Yeah, I turned the extra room into this _Star Wars_ shrine. All _Star Wars_ all the time…" He continued to ramble on.

Kitty listened to her son talk on about his favorite room in his new place, when suddenly she felt a familiar pain. But just because it was familiar didn't mean she had gotten used to it. She closed her eyes and frowned abit while her hand grip tightly to the sheet that was covering her.

"I guess I should've brought pictures. It's so cool Mom…Mom?" he finally noticed the discomfort Kitty seemed to be in, "Are you ok? Do you need me to get Jackie?"

Kitty shook her head and took a few minutes before answering, "I'm fine, Eric. Keep telling me about your room. I'm listening."

Eric watched his mother for a few seconds. She never opened her eyes back up and the distress expression her face was showing did little to ease his nerves. But she wanted him to keep talking about his _Star Wars_ stuff. He could do that.

"Ok well um." He cleared his throat, "It's got some posters of the movie. And I put in all of the action figures I've got of the characters. Oh I've gotta get some of the ones I left here. And I've…"

He drifted off as he noticed that the pain his mother was feeling wasn't going away. Her deep breaths and even deeper frown told him that it was only getting worse.

"I've gotta get outta here." He said out loud with a shake of his head as he stood up from his seat on the mattress.

Kitty waited a few more seconds, for the pain to subside. It was taking longer than usual. Though the pain had yet to go away, Kitty called out her son's name in hopes of stoping him; however by the time she opened her eyes Eric had already left the room.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__There you go Chapter 6 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Be sure to check in next Monday to find out where Eric went!_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	8. The Toaster Oven

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing except…nope nothing!_

_**Author's Note:**__ Hello friends! Well it is Monday and I am very happy! My shows are back this week with new episodes and I got my midterm back and passed with a 'C' but it's college algebra and I worked hard for that grade and well I passed lol. This week's chapter is a little long and it was going to be longer but I decided to wait and put the next scene in next weeks so good news there. Now just a quick little reminder, I am not a doctor or a nurse or anything in the medical field…I am applying for a scholarship from a hospital but that's the closest thing to anything today. --Okay i left that in there to show that i was gonna post this chapter yesterday but was havign probles uploading. Anywoo Thanks or all the reviews you guys, I am so glad you're enjoying it! Hope you like this chapter! Enjoy!_

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"_Oh my, I didn't realize it was already one thirty." Kitty said as she looked down at her watch and then up at the camera, "Steven honey, do you think you could stop the video taping for a little while?"_

"_Um sure, Mom." Hyde answered but didn't turn the camera off or move it away, "What's wrong? I thought you said you didn't have any appointments today."_

_Kitty shook her head "I don't. I have to get started on lunch."_

"_What?" Hyde asked, and though the camera didn't show him, it was pretty obvious that he was frowning, "No you don't. The doctor said you should be taking it easy. You don't have to make lunch, Jackie can do it."_

"_Oh Steven, I don't think I have the strength to take care of the three of you at the same time, if you all got food poisoning. Again." She said abit sadly, "It'll just be easier and much safer if I make lunch."_

"_Wait." Hyde called out, stopping Kitty from standing up, "Me and Red can make it." _

"_Speak for yourself, dumbass." Red replied from behind his paper._

"_Fine, then we'll order out." Hyde suggested and Kitty shook her head as Red spoke up again._

"_Not unless you're paying for it."_

"_Steven, I appreciate your concern for me." Kitty began, "But I think I can cook a meal for the three of you."_

"_But…" Hyde started to protest._

"_No buts. I am making lunch for my family and that is final." She firmly told Hyde as she stood up from her seat on the couch, "Now you can either turn that thing off and wait until I'm done or you can follow me into the kitchen and we can continue in there. It's up to you."_

_Since she had said what she need to say, Kitty turned around and walked off and into her kitchen. Hyde kept the camera on her until she was in the next room. He filmed the kitchen door as it swung back and forth a few times before moving the camera to Red._

"_Red, man." he said to the man covered once again by his paper, "The doctor said she needed to rest."_

"_I know." Red answered from behind the newspaper._

"_Aren't you gonna say anything to her?"_

_Red at last pulled down the paper and looked over at Hyde and the camera, a slight frown on his face._

"_Steven I've been married to Kitty for over twenty-five years, trust me when I say this." He paused for a second or two, "If you argue with her, you won't win."_

~*~

"Damn it! You see this is why I didn't want him to see her." Hyde growled.

He and Jackie were in the Forman living room. Hyde was up on his feet while Jackie stayed seated on the yellow couch. It was nearly six in the evening, and Eric had yet to return from wherever he'd gone.

"I knew he was gonna do something like this." Hyde continued, "I knew he was gonna come get her all excited and then do something to disappoint her. I wanted to at least warn Mom, before she saw him."

Jackie looked up at him. She was upset at Eric for taking off like that and slightly mad at herself for sneaking him past Hyde. But part of her was still sure that she had done the right thing.

"You couldn't have warned her while you were up there this morning?" she questioned him with a frown, "You were in there for practically two hours."

"This isn't about me not warning Mom, Jackie." Hyde argued, "It's about Forman upsetting her."

"Steven, she's not upset." Jackie said with a shake of her head, "She's disappointed sure, but not upset."

"Yes she is, Jackie." he protested, "Look, I've know her longer, I've lived with her longer, I _know_ she's upset."

"I'm not upset."

The new voice caused both Jackie and Hyde to look away from each other and over to the stairway. Over at the top of the staircase stood Kitty with the IV at her side.

"Mom, what are you doing out of bed?" Hyde asked as he walked over to the bottom of the stairs.

"Steven, I am not a child and it is not past my bedtime." Kitty said with a roll of her eyes, "I'm tired of being in bed. I want to come downstairs."

Jackie stood up and walked over to stand beside Hyde, who was still standing on the last step of the stairs. With the two of them standing like that, it looked like they were blocking Kitty from leaving the third level of the house.

"I don't think that's such a good idea." Jackie began, "You've got the IV and you're already having trouble walking in your room, the stairs are just gonna be worse."

Hyde nodded his head in agreement, "Jackie's right. Go back to your bed and I'll be right there with your medicine. I'll even stay up there for awhile and we can watch TV on the portable…"

"No." Kitty replied in a firm tone of voice, "I am going downstairs whether you help me or not."

Jackie looked over at Hyde and he sighed in response. They knew there was no point in fighting it now, and they couldn't let Kitty attempt to climb down those steps by herself.

Jackie walked off ahead of Hyde, but he was quick to follow her up to where their adoptive mother was standing. Hyde stood by Kitty side and linked his left arm to her right one so he could have a better grip on her hand—just incase. Jackie went to stand behind them and took hold of the sliver pole beside Kitty.

Carefully and very slowly, the three of them descended from the stairs. It took them a good two minutes to reach the last step and even then they still had the remaining two by the sofa.

"Where do you wanna sit?" Hyde asked when they began to near the sitting area.

Kitty shook her head, trying not to show how much she was struggling at the moment. "Anywhere."

Hyde nodded and began to lead the two women over to Red's green chair.

Once they reached the chair, Hyde gently helped Kitty into the seat and Jackie placed the IV close beside her. The two of them watched as Kitty closed her eyes and paced both her hands on each arm of the chair. Concern filled them until they saw a smile stretch her lips; then they relaxed, they knew what she was thinking about. Or better yet who.

"You know we can always call him." Hyde spoke up, "Let him know what's going. I'm sure he'd be here in…"

"No." Kitty shook her head, keeping her eyes shut, "He'll be home soon. I don't want to be the reason for ruining his fun." She opened her eyes and looked at them, "And I don't want you two bothering him. Understand?"

Together they nodded, "Yes ma'am."

It wasn't a lie, because they wouldn't be bothering him. When and if they would ever they would get in touch with Red they would inform him of his sick wife and tell him to come home. That wasn't bothering.

"Where's everybody else?" Kitty asked breaking the silence.

"Well Donna and Randy went to a bunch of different places." Jackie informed and shrugged, "I guess you could say they went sight-seeing."

"In Point Place? I wouldn't." Hyde commented to Jackie and then looked back at Kitty, "Brooke and Betsy took Fez and Kelso to _Funland_."

Kitty smiled, "How nice."

"Yeah." Hyde nodded, "And Eric, we're not really sure…"

"Except that he's at _The Piggly Wiggly_." Jackie quickly jumped in. She ignored Hyde's deep frown and paid attention to Kitty's small one. "He went for um…fruit. Yeah, I sent him for fruit. That's where he's at, getting fruit."

"Jackie, don't lie."

Surprisingly the person who said those words was not the person Jackie thought would say those words. It wasn't a Zen, deep, manly voice. It was a softer, gentler, feminine voice. It wasn't Hyde. It was Kitty.

"I'm not lying." Jackie lied. She didn't like lying, especially to Kitty, but the truth would only hurt her. Jackie looked over at Steven and gave him a look that said, _'Go along with me'_ before repeating herself, "I'm not lying."

Hyde stared back at Jackie for a few seconds before looking at Kitty.

"Yeah, she's lying."

"Steven!" Jackie shouted upset and ready to let him know jus how much.

"Jackie, Jackie, sweetie." Kitty called out, stopping Jackie before she kicked Hyde. "I knew you were lying."

"But…"

Kitty shook her head and cut Jackie off, "Jackie, I love my son. He's a good boy." She paused a tiny pause, "But he can't pick a good piece of fruit to save his life. Even when I would send him out to get a bag of grapes he would come back with sour ones. He knows he shouldn't buy fruit by himself. And I know that neither one of you knows where Eric is."

Jackie looked down at her hands, "I'm sorry, Mom. I just I…"

"Didn't want me to worry." Kitty finished for her, "I know. But I'm not worried. I know he just needs some time to himself, he'll be back soon."

Hyde and Jackie exchanged looks. With everything that Kitty had been through, they wondered how she still remained so optimistic. Before anymore could be said the front door swung open and Kelso burst in holding something behind his back. He had a large smile on his face as Fez stood beside him looking very mad.

"Guess what we got!" Kelso called out.

"Fatso Burger!" Fez answered for them, in an upset tone.

"Ah!" exclaimed Kelso, as his mouth dropped open, "I wanted them to guess, Fez!"

Fez glared at the tall man, "So did I, you sonofabitch!"

"Then why did you tell them?!" Kelso asked sounding both upset and confused.

As Kelso and Fez continued their argument, Brooke—with a tray of drinks in her hands—and Betsy—along with an arm full of prizes—entered the house. Betsy ran to the sofa and dropped her new toys there, ready to show them off to anybody who would listen. Brooke meanwhile, walked over to where Jackie was standing.

"Can you tell they were fighting over who got to announce that we picked up dinner?" she asked and the others nodded.

"Did you have fun at _Funland_?" Kitty asked, directing the question to the little girl but instead got an answer from two other people.

"Yeah we did!"

"The best!"

The fight they had been having seconds ago, left both Fez and Kelso's minds when they heard Kitty's question. Quickly and excitedly, they walked over to where the sick woman was and took a seat on the couch. But not before Kelso practically shoved the fast-food bags into Brooke and Jackie's arms.

"Hey morons," Hyde called out to the two babbling grown men, "I'm pretty sure she was talking to the kid here."

Kelso and Fez stopped their chattering and looked from Hyde to Betsy to Kitty. A disappointed look on each of their faces.

Kitty smiled slightly, "I'm afraid Steven's right, boys."

"Aww."

"But as soon as Betsy finishes telling me about her day at _Funland, _you two can tell me about yours." She reassured them.

"Oh ok." Kelso nodded with a smile as Fez did the same, "Works for me." The two men smiled, happy that they would get their chance in a few minutes, and made themselves comfortable on the sofa.

Betsy jumped off the couch and scooped her toys into her arms before walking over to Kitty.

"_Funland_ was fun! I got this toy, his name is Tom. And I got this toy her name is Betty. And this one is Fluffy…" Betsy rambled on to her Grandma Kitty, who just smiled and nodded as Betsy placed more and more toys into her lap. "And then I got on a ride that was this high!"

Jackie smiled as she watched her goddaughter stretched her arm up as high as it could go, even stepping on her toes to make the ride even taller. She saw that Kitty was distracted by the talkative child and the same went for Hyde. This would be a good time to tell the others about what had happened.

"Um could you guys help me in the kitchen?" Jackie asked, "We need to get some plates under the burgers."

"Sure, Jackie." Brooke nodded.

The two women then headed off to the kitchen, but Jackie stopped when she saw her other two helpers hadn't budged. She grabbed Brooke by the arm to stop her from taking another step.

"Michael, Fez" Jackie called out to them, "Come on let's go."

"Why?" Fez asked childishly.

Jackie glared at him, "Because you need to help."

Kelso turned his head towards the two, "Why?"

"Because you're adults." Brooke answered, "And that's what adults do."

"Why?" Fez asked with a tilt of his head.

"Because if you don't start acting like adults and get into the kitchen to help us, you're not getting dinner." Jackie threatened.

"Fine." Both men grumbled with a stomp of their feet before standing up and walking over to the kitchen with frowns on their faces. Kelso grabbed the paper bag out of his wife's hands and took it into the kitchen for her while Fez, clearly mad at Jackie, ignored her and let her carry her bag.

"Man, being an adult sucks." Kelso complained.

Fez nodded "I could not agree more, my friend."

"Hey! Check out the cool toy I got with my _Junior Fatso Meal_!" Kelso shouted as he pulled the mini water gun from the paper bag in his hand.

When the four of them were in the kitchen, they worked in silence. Kelso was filling his water gun with water while Fez stood beside him waiting for his turn. Brooke was unpacking a few items from the bag as Jackie searched for the stack of paper plates.

"Ok, what happened?" Brooke asked Jackie as soon as she had found the plates.

Jackie sighed and looked at Brooke, "I think I messed up."

"Oo this should be good." Fez said as he grabbed his soda and began sipping his straw, while looking very intrigued.

Kelso had also heard Jackie's confession and soon forgot about his new toy and grabbed a package of french-fries and began eating it like it was a box of popcorn.

"What happened?" Brooke asked softly.

"Ok well you know how I was trying to get Eric to see Mom, right?" Jackie asked.

Brooke nodded, "Right."

"And you know how Eric wasn't exactly looking forward to that, right?"

"Right." Kelso answered with his mouth full.

"And you know how Steven didn't want Eric to see her either, right?"

"For God's sake, woman!" Fez exclaimed, "Tell us something we don't know!"

At first Jackie was surprised by her friend's outburst, but she knew she had to tell them. She took in a deep breath and nodded.

"Ok, I snuck Eric past Steven so he could see Mom."

"No!" three different voice said in disbelief.

"Then what happened?" Kelso asked sounding very interested.

"Well I got Jack past the grumpy giant." Jackie began, "Eric got to see Mom and she got to see him. She was so happy and so was Eric…of course he was a little nervous and twitchy but he's Eric." The three nodded and Jackie continued, "Everything was going great until Eric started talking about his work and how he's up for an award that deals with perfect attendance…"

"Wait." Fez interrupted as he raised his hand up, "What is perfect attendance?"

"It's when you don't miss any days, Fez. Most schools have an award system for the students who have it." Brooke explained quickly, she wanted to know what else happened. However she looked more like a friend interested to know what happened so she could help, not like the other two who resembled movie viewers at the edge of their seats.

"Yeah, I remember I had that one year." Kelso said out loud, with a proud smile. "In kindergarten. It was all snacks, nap time, and the best tasting glue."

Jackie made a disgusted face at the man she dated long ago, "_Anways,_ Eric was talking about how his perfect attendance was helping him win that award, and Mom soon realized that he wasn't going to have perfect attendance because of him being here. So she apologized to him but he said it was ok because he had this two days system figured out."

Brooke frowned, "Two days system?"

"Yeah, he's got this plan that will keep from missing so many days of school. He's gonna leave tomorrow then come back Friday night and leave Sunday night so he can be back in school to teach." Jackie explained and then shook her head, "It's like he's trying to be in two places at once, and he won't be able to do it."

"Yeah, not without a clone." Kelso added and Fez nodded beside him, "Man, I wish I had a clone!" he paused to think, "Wait no, cause then he might be better looking than me…" he took another second to think, "Nah, that'll never happen. I'll make sure I'm better looking."

"So _Brook_e," Jackie continued with her story now directing to the only sane person in the room, besides herself. "After he said that I got mad and left the room. I guess I shouldn't have done that, because when I came back about an hour later Mom said Eric had left."

Brooke gasped softly.

"No!" Kelso said wide-eyed.

Fez glared and slammed his styrofoam cup on the counter "That bastard."

"Does Hyde know?" Brooke asked.

"He knows about Eric being gone but not about the two days deal." Jackie replied, "So don't say anything."

The three heads nodded.

"Do you have any idea where Eric could be now?"

Jackie shook her head at Brooke's question, "I have no idea, and I'm starting to get a little worried."

"Oo I know!" Kelso shouted excitedly as an idea popped into his head, "I'm a police!"

Fez, Jackie, and even his won wife stared at him with their own scowl. They didn't exactly see where he was going with this.

"I work with police dogs!" Kelso went on, still not helping the others get the idea, "Police dogs find things like people! I've seen what they do, I can do that and find Eric!"

Brooke and Jackie didn't look too convinced but Kelso's partner in crime was just as excited as him.

"Oo I want to look for Eric too!" Fez chimed in as if what Kelso was talking about was a game.

Kelso grinned, "Sure thing, Little Buddy."

Okay now there was no way Jackie could be convinced. With it just being Kelso, he had a better chance—after all Kelso was a policeman. But now with Fez helping him…it was like sending Lenny and Squiggy. Jackie didn't want to have three missing people, she had to stop them.

"I don't think that's such a good idea…"she began.

"Come on Jackie, I can do this." Kelso said, sounding very serious, "I wanna find Eric. For Mrs. Forman."

Jackie's face softened, and she began weighing out the options.

"Yes, me too." Fez stated, "Oh and I want to be a detective for a day."

Jackie looked up at her foreign friend and saw him smiling with Kelso standing next to him grinning and nodding along. They were baboons but they were thoughtful baboons who wanted to help.

"Okay fine." Jackie finally agreed and then looked down at her watch, "Mom should probably be going to bed soon. If Eric's not back by then, you can go out and look for him. I don't want you worrying Mom."

"Aye, aye." The two men said with a salute before loosing their brief seriousness.

"This is going to be so much fun." Fez smiled, "We will be like Shaggy and Scooby."

"Yeah!" Kelso agreed before his smile fell and he began to frown, "Wait I don't wanna be Shaggy. I wanna be Fred. He's better be looking."

"But Fred does not always partner up with Scooby." Fez reminded.

Kelso nodded, "True. Oo I got it! You can be Daphne."

Fez frowned at his man-pretty friend for awhile before a smile crept onto his face, "Well I do look good in purple."

Jackie shook her head and smiled, trying her best not to laugh. She had missed these two; things had been too serious around here with out them. She was glad they were back.

"Come on, let's get these burgers out there." Jackie ordered and then pushed open the swinging door with her hip as she held a plate of food in each of her hands.

The others followed from behind as they walked back into the living room. Jackie handed one of the plates to Hyde before setting herself down on the piano bench. Brooke, who had also been holding two plates, handed one to her rambling daughter and then took a seat on the couch. Kelso sat down beside his wife on the arm of the sofa, after placing the tray of drinks on the table. Fez was at the end of the line holding two additional plates.

"And then Uncle Fez got six cotton candies!" Betsy said excitedly.

Kitty smiled at the young girl's enthusiasm, "Really?"

"Yes and I ate them all." Fez answered with a proud smile, "And now Miss. Kitty it is time for you to eat."

Hyde frowned as he watched Fez hand Kitty one of the paper plates that had been filled with the greasy take-out food of _Fatso Burger_. That wouldn't do her any good.

"Fez…" Hyde began to say, ready to get upset with his friend for bringing Kitty the food; but when he saw Kitty's warning eyes, he looked down, "that nice of you to think of Mom."

Fez furrowed his brow with confusion; he looked from Hyde to Kitty.

"It was very nice of you, Fez." Kitty said with a smile, "But I think it might be just a little too much for me, so I think I'll only take a few bites."

Though everyone else thought she was still talking to Fez, Hyde knew she was telling him. She was looking at him, after all. Fez still didn't understand, but he was hungry so he shrugged it off and took a seat next to Betsy on the floor.

Not a minute after Fez sat down, a voice was heard from the kitchen.

"Hello?" a manly voice called out.

"Is anyone here?" another voice called, this one sounding just a bit more feminine.

"In the living room Donna!" Jackie shouted back.

A few seconds later, the kitchen door was pushed open and Donna and Randy walked into the scene.

"Hey you guys." Donna greeted her friends with a smile and then realized Kitty was there too. "Mrs. Forman, you're out of bed."

Kitty smiled back, "That's right."

"I think that's great." Randy added his two cents, "Just because you're sick doesn't mean you should be cooped up in bed or in one little room. You should be moving around and doing anything you can. If you're able, then do it."

"Thank you, Randy." Kitty smiled at the tall man. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

Meanwhile, Jackie and Hyde were thinking the exact opposite. They sat in their seats glaring at Randy as they continued to eat their meals.

"Oh there's some burgers and fries in the bag in the kitchen." Brooke informed the couple.

Donna shook her head, "No, it's ok. We already had dinner."

"I could go for some fries though." Randy said out loud before disappearing into the kitchen.

"You guys ate out or something?" Hyde questioned as Donna took a seat beside him.

"Yeah," Donna nodded her head, "we figured there would be a chance of Jackie cooking dinner and…we really didn't want to take the risk."

"Burn!" Kelso shouted with the help of his daughter.

Jackie glared from Kelso to Donna. She wasn't sure who she should get after first. Donna for insulting her or Kelso for turning her goddaughter against her. Well Donna did start it.

"My cooking is not _that bad_, Donna."

"Yeah, ok." Donna replied still unconvinced as her boyfriend walked back in and sat between her and Brooke.

"She's right, Donna. Her cooking's not that bad." Hyde began to say before a smirk sprang to his lips, "It's terrible."

The room filled with the different laughs as Jackie frowned at the smirking Zen Master.

"Oh like you're such a good chef." She teased.

"Steven is a good chef." Kitty said, joining in the conversation, "As long as what he's making doesn't involve the microwave."

Hyde frowned as Jackie joined in the laughter.

"Do you remember when he made that frozen pizza in the microwave with the plastic and cardboard still on it?" Jackie asked Kitty between laughs.

Kitty laughed at the memory and nodded, "And he put it in for the an hour and a half instead of the minute and thirty seconds."

The laughs got even louder at the thought of the mess that had created.

"Hey that wasn't me!" Hyde protested, "I was the one who made the hot chocolate explode in there. Red was the one with the pizza."

The memory filled his mind and Hyde then started laughing with everyone else while Jackie tried to speak with out laughing.

"I remember that." she let out a laugh, "He said if the microwave had an ass he would stick the pizza up it with his foot."

"Oh, I swear that man." Kitty said with a shake of her head as the laughter began to die down, "It was until this last year that he figured out it wasn't the toaster oven."

That gave them the second wind and their laughter was even louder.

But while the group laughed together and told other stories of mishaps with microwaves—not surprisingly Kelso and Fez had lots of stories, especially with Marshmallow Peeps—no one noticed Eric standing behind the kitchen door watching from afar.

Though he couldn't see his mother's face, he could tell by her laugh that she was enjoying herself and having a good time. She didn't need him here for that. He had spent time with her earlier and she didn't laugh like that. Maybe it would just be better for everyone if he went back to Seattle and didn't come back till…later. His friends could take care of her. And he…he just wasn't cut out to do this.

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_**Author's Note: **__And that would be Chapter 7 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_BTW those microwave stories, true stories. The pizza thing happened to one of my friends who is 18, happened maybe a year ago. And the hot chocolate exploding happened to my sister just last week. The Peeps…well that hasn't happened…yet._

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day! _


	9. I've Gotta Do This

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing! Never have, never will. _

_**Author's Note: **__Hello friends! Well it's Monday and you know what that means…well yeah it means 'ugh the weekends over, darn it' but it also means a new chapter of this fic! Thanks so much for your kind words you guys, they mean a lot and I hope you'll continue to write those wonderful reviews. Few notes today. First off this is kinda a filler chapter that was gonna be a lot shorter if I hadn't had added some stuff, but don't worry there's still some important stuff that happens in here. Second, please remember I am not a doctor, no am I a nurse or anything else in the medical field…I don't even do community work in a hospital…but I probably should…Anywwo thanks for reading hope you like and please, Enjoy!_

* * *

_Kitty stood in her kitchen, by the microwave. Not the same one that Fez and Laurie had received as a wedding gift…years ago. That machine lasted longer than the marriage._

"_Then you press start." Kitty said to the camera after pressing the button on the appliance, "And that is how you use a microwave without making anything explode."_

"_And that is one of your Grandma Kitty's classy burns." Hyde was heard saying._

_Kitty just continued to smile before she walked over to the stove to mix something that was cooking in a large pot._

"_What are we having?"_

"_Spa-Kitty and meatballs." She answered with a laugh, "I cal it that because I add different ingredients to make this recipe my own." _

"_When did you start coming up with your own recipes and stuff like that?"_

"_Well let's see," Kitty said as she covered the smaller pot on the stove, "I started baking when I was about seven or eight. Then by the time I was twelve I had my own brownie recipe…which is the one I still use today."_

"_Whoa." Was all Hyde could say, he had those brownies on many, many occasion and he never would've thought a twelve year old had come up with the recipe._

_Kitty shrugged her shoulders, "I grew up in…a long time ago." She said stopping herself from revealing her age, "And back then for girls, having your own recipe for anything was like having one of those 8 track player things."_

"_Kids right now while we're filming this," Hyde said, staying behind the camera, the people who own one of those things, aren't even close to being cool."_

_Kitty sent him a warning look before going on, "As I was saying. I started backing at a young age, but I don't think I started actually cooking until…well until Red and I got married."_

"_Seriously?" Hyde asked surprised, "So like you didn't know how to cook anything?"_

"_Well I knew how to cook a few things but nothing too big." Kitty explained, "Bless Red for staying with me for those first three months."_

_Hyde smirked, "That bad huh?"_

"_One time he got such bad food poisoning he had to go to the hospital. We thought the 'till death do us part' was gonna come a lot sooner than we hoped. Luckily Red got better and I got better at cooking. Everything worked out" Kitty shared, but then her smile shrunk some, "I wish I could say the same for this time around though."_

_~*~_

Eric sat outside on the snow covered ground.

He was in the backyard, sitting against the wall that was also a wall to the kitchen. He knew no one would find him here. No one ever really came out there…well except for his parents and that was to work on the yard. But none of the old gang, he wondered if they even knew there was the backyard. They had to, though. They must have seen it when they made their daily trip to the basement.

And they use to play in it all the time when they were little. With the tree-house in the old oak tree and the swing set with the slide attached. Both had been taken down by Red years ago. He said it was because they were rarely being used but Eric always thought it was another attempt to get rid of the kids that hung around his house. It probably would've worked if there wasn't the basement, but Red couldn't get rid of that.

However, old memories like that weren't what were going through Eric's mind at the moment. Instead he was thinking about how many mistakes he had made since he got here, how he was messing everything up and he'd only been here two days.

Why had he run off today, without even giving his mother an explanation? Why wasn't he able to walk into his childhood home and join his mother and friends for dinner and some laughs? He had felt nervous and a bit left out when he saw them all in the living room laughing, and so he ran off. Why did he do that?

He knew why, because he was a dumbass and a coward. A cowardly dumbass.

But what he couldn't understand was why he was that cowardly dumbass now.

Over in Seattle he wasn't a cowardly dumbass. He wasn't even a dumbass. He was a hardworking teacher, a good teacher. His previous students would rave about him to the incoming fifth graders and they all would ask their parents to request him as their teacher.

They thought he was funny and smart and a few of the little girls had little crushes on him. These kids looked up to him. He was a hero to them, not a cowardly dumbass.

"I had a feeling Seattle would get you use to the rain, but I never would've thought the snow."

Hearing the familiar voice, Eric frowned and turned his head towards the garage. There he saw Jackie, bundled up in a jacket with matching hat, scarf and gloves. It wasn't that cold out here. Eric knew who had told her to put on those accessories.

"Jackie?" he asked sounding a bit surprised.

Out of everyone in the house he thought Jackie would've been the last one to come out here and find him. Well there was Hyde too. And his mom couldn't come outside. Donna and him hadn't really talked and he hardly knew that Randy guy. Brooke was probably putting the kids to bed—those kids including Fez and Kelso. Now that Eric thought about it, Jackie was really the only one who would come look for him. When did that happen?

"How did you know I was out here?" Eric asked as Jackie walked over to him.

"Eric, please. I've known you for almost twenty years." Jackie said as she took a seat beside him, "I know you like the back of my hand."

Eric watched her, believing her for a second or two. "You saw me in the kitchen, didn't you?"

"Yup."

They sat in silence. Jackie waited for Eric to speak; she had a feeling he'd want to talk about his visit with Kitty. Eric waited for Jackie to speak; he had a feeling she'd want to talk…because she was Jackie.

Eric was right. Jackie did want to talk; she hated silence and had already come up with several topics to talk about. One of those topics being the visit with Kitty, but Jackie knew it would be better if she waited for him to say something, instead of her badgering him with questions. So she kept her mouth shut and entertained herself with the snow on the floor.

Eric smiled as he watched her run her covered hands over the snow. She had started to create a small hill with the snow, but it looked like she wasn't quite sure what to do with it. She looked so innocent and kinda pretty…

"The coast is clear, you know." Jackie informed. She'd finally had enough of the quietness.

Her words had caught Eric off guard and he could barely remember what she was talking about. Why was she talking about a beach?

He shook his head, "What?"

"What is your brain frozen?" Jackie asked with a frown, "I said the coast is clear as in everyone's gone."

"Oh!" Eric said, finally understanding, then he changed his tone to a disappointed like one, "Oh."

Jackie nodded, "Yeah. They're either already in bed or getting ready for it."

Eric moved his head up and down as Jackie continued to speak.

"Have you eaten?" she asked not waiting for a reply, "I can warm you up some leftovers…well take-out leftovers. None of us really no how to cook except for Brooke maybe. But you know how your mom is about guest not doing anything since they're a guest. Even though, Michael and Brooke were the ones who bought dinner tonight…"

"Jackie," Eric cut her off, "what are you doing?"

"Ok that's it. You need this more than I do." She said to Eric before she pulled off her orange knit hat and placed it on his head. She smoothed out the top of her head and went on with explaining, "I'm talking. It's what people do to communicate. You just did it. I'm talking to you, trying to be nice…"

"Well first off, thanks for the hat." He said with a small smile, "But what I meant was, what are you doing _here_?"

Jackie sent him a look that was anything but happy. Eric soon realized that wasn't the right way to phrase the question.

"Ok, ok let me try again." He said holding up his hands and then began to think. This was hard, he sighed and decided to just go for it, "Jackie, how do you…how are you able to handle…all of this with Mom?"

"Oh." Jackie said as her face softened. She shrugged her shoulders, "Well it hasn't been easy…"

This shocked Eric. To him she was handling this like it was just another day; she could keep her cool through everything. "Really?"

Jackie gave him a sideways look, "Eric you're not the only one who this has been hard for." She shook her head at the memories of when Kitty was in the hospital before this, "It's been hard on all of us. Me, Steven…and your dad was a wreck during those worst months."

"Red really?" Eric asked, he couldn't imagine Red in a state like that, he was always so strong.

"He may not have shown it very much, but I could tell." she told him.

Again Eric nodded, he could believe that. A small frown soon appeared on his face as he realized Jackie had yet to answer his question.

"But how do you do it, Jackie? I mean you're watching over her, you've been watching over her. Making sure she's comfortable. Getting her medicines when she needs them. You never freak out when you're taking care of her." Eric said, "You're taking care of her in a way that I haven't…and probably won't ever be able to."

Jackie placed her warm hand over Eric's cold one. "Sure you will Eric." she gave it a slight squeeze, "I know it's hard. You're so use to your mom taking care of you, you never would've thought that the roles would reverse like this and your mom would be the one who needed _your_ help."

Eric nodded, that was exactly how he felt.

"But you've got to remember all of those times that you were sick in bed and your mom stayed up sitting at your bedside, even after you had fallen asleep."

Kitty had done that to Eric too many times to count—even when he was well into his teen years. Sometimes it would annoy him, because he wasn't a baby, but most of the time it comforted him to know his mother would be there if he needed anything.

"When your mom first got sick and we had to start taking care of her, I couldn't do it." Jackie went on, bringing Eric out of his thoughts, "Then I reminded myself of the times that she had helped me. And that if it were me who was sick, Mom would take care of me in all the ways that she could. The least I could do was the same for her."

Eric nodded, Jackie's words made a lot of sense and it gave him not only a smidge of hope but an idea too.

He looked over at her, "Hey Jackie, how about if you and I switch places tonight? You could sleep in your room and I'll stay with Mom."

"Um Eric…" Jackie began, not really sure how she should word this, "I don't really think that's such a good idea."

"What? Why?" he asked not understanding, he thought it was a great idea. "You'll get to have a good night's sleep and it'll give me a chance to talk with Mom."

Jackie shook her head, "I know, it's a good idea…just not tonight."

"Why?"

"Steven's staying with Mom tonight." she explained, "We're sorta taking shifts. Since I stayed with her yesterday, he's staying with her tonight. "

"Oh ok. " Eric answered trying to hide his disappointment, "Oh but hey doesn't that mean you're gonna need your room tonight? I haven't gotten a hotel room yet with everything that happened today. But I guess I could…"

"Eric, Eric" Jackie interrupted, "Don't worry about it, I'm gonna stay in Steven's room tonight. "

Eric frowned, "You sure that's such a good idea? "

"Eric, please." she said with a roll of her eyes, "Steven and I have been over for years now. "

Eric shrugged, "I guess that might come in handy to know, but I meant cause Fez is staying in the basement too."

"Oh." was all a slightly embarrassed Jackie could say, "Well you don't have to worry about that either. Steven added a lock to his bedroom door a few years back."

Eric nodded as he kept his eyes on the floor. Jackie could tell he really did want to make the effort and talk to his mother again.

"But hey, there's always tomorrow night." Jackie reminded, "We can do your idea then and…"

"I'm going back to Seattle tomorrow, remember?"

Jackie's face fell as his two days plan came back into her mind.

"Oh right." she muttered as she stood up and brushed the snow off of her pants. She looked at Eric and frowned before snatching her orange hat off of his head. "Orange is so not your color."

Eric watched as she marched her off away from him.

"Jackie," he called out, causing her to turn around, "I'm sorry."

Jackie just shook her head, "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

Eric didn't say a word. She was right and he knew it. So instead of calling her back or saying anything else he watched the tiny brunette get tinnier as she walked over to the basement, until she finally disappeared into the lower level of the house.

~*~

Fez was sitting on the old basement couch when Jackie walked into the room.

Seeing Jackie, Fez forgot about the old _Lavern and Shirley_ episode he was watching and jumped up onto the back of the couch. He smiled largely at Jackie, never noticing the upset frown on her face.

"Alright Jackie, I have got everything planned." Fez excitedly told her, but Jackie never stopped walking towards the back room. "First we have a makeover and then we are going to gossip and eat chocolaty chocolate ice cream and then to top it all off back to back episodes of _Mary Tyler Moore_!"

Jackie never said a word, probably because she didn't hear a word that Fez had said. She finally reached Hyde's small room and she stepped inside before slamming the door shut, leaving a poor confused Fez on the couch.

"Jackie?" he called but got no response, "Fine you can give me the makeover instead. But that means I get more of the ice cream!"

~*~

"You know, I just realized I haven't seen Eric since breakfast." Donna said to her fiancé as they tried to get comfortable on the sofa sleeper in the Forman living room. "Did he get a hotel or something?"

Randy shook his head, "I don't think so. I don't think he'd wanna get Mrs. Forman upset."

"He barely said anything this morning. Or yesterday night." Donna reminded.

"And?" Randy asked, not really seeing a point to this.

Donna swung her head to look at him, "_And_ that's not like Eric."

"Alright, so." Randy shrugged his shoulders, "He's changed. People change Donna."

"I guess." She replied as she rested her head against the pillow, "I just hope he hasn't changed too much."

~*~

Upstairs in Eric's old room, Brooke was trying to get some sleep but it wasn't so easy. She wasn't exactly use to sleeping on the ground, but it was the only logical thing to do since the bed in the room was a twin sized.

So Betsy was sleeping soundly on the mattress while her parents slept on the floor over a few old comforters.

Brooke had her eyes closed as she counted the fiftieth sheep jump over the fence in her mind. Then suddenly the sheep stopped making their 'baahh'ing noise and instead sounded like the noises little boys made when they were pretending to play with guns.

Her eyes flew open and she turned to her left to see her husbands back.

"Michael?" she called softly, and the noise stopped, "What are you doing?"

Kelso lay on his side, his eyes wide and nervous. He never turned to face Brooke, instead he tried to hide what he had under the covers.

"Nothing." Kelso replied unconvincingly.

Brooke knew he was lying and so she sat up and looked at Kelso waiting for him to admit it. Slowly Kelso moved onto his back and looked up at his wife.

"What?"

Instead of answering, Brooke squinted her eyes a bit at Kelso before grabbing hold of the blanket and pulling it off of him; revealing his new found treasures. Brooke frowned slightly at what she had found.

"Come on, Brooke. They're G.I. Joes!" Kelso exclaimed happily as he lifted up Eric's old '_action figures_.'

"Shh!" his wife said to him while trying not to laugh. "Betsy's in here, remember?"

He didn't, at least not until she reminded him. "Oh right. Sorry." He paused. "Can I still play with Joe?"

"Sure." Brooke replied as she shook her head and laid back down, "Just don't break anything."

"Yeah, yeah." Kelso said as he waved his hand, waving of Brooke's words.

Again the silence—except for Kelso's slight gun noises—filled the room, but Brooke still couldn't sleep. She turned to herself to lie on her left side and saw Kelso playing with the toys, making them climb up his knee as if it were a mountain. Brooke had to smile at that.

"You know Michael, this whole trip here for Mrs. Forman has really got me thinking about Betsy…"

Kelso dropped the dolls and quickly turned to Brooke, fear and worry in his eyes.

"Betsy?!" he asked sounding panicked, "Why Betsy? Is she sick? What's wrong with my little Sweet Pea?!"

"Sh, sh, sh. Nothing's wrong Michael." Brooke calmly said as she placed her hand over his chest, "Betsy's perfectly fine. I meant Betsy and your parents. I mean With my mom in Chicago, Betsy's really close to her but whenever we come to Point Place we only spend an hour or so at your parents house.

"Yeah, cause most of my brother's still live there." Kelso reminded, "They'll use Betsy as a football!"

Brooke laughed a small laugh at Kelso's words, causing him to frown.

"You think I'm joking, but I'm not. When I was little, I was the soccer ball!"

"Ok, ok." Brooke said softly, hoping to calm him down and lower his voice, "But maybe we could make a small visit to see them while we're here. We'll call before and make sure your brothers are gone.

Kelso thought about it for a few seconds before shrugging his shoulder. "Yeah ok, I guess. But only for a little while, this trip is kinda for Mrs. Forman. I mean I know she's not my mom or anything but she kinda is."

Brooke nodded, signaling for him to go on.

"It's not like Jackie or Hyde though cause I had good parents…just not good siblings. And it's not like Fez where his parents are in…it's not like Fez." He went on, "See since there was a bunch of us over at my house I was kinda like just another kid there; but whenever I'd come over here Mrs. Forman always made me feel like…"

Kelso drifted off as he tried to come up with the right word. He drifted off for a long time. Seeing her husband struggle, Brooke decided to try to help.

"You were something?"

"Yeah, I was something." Kelso nodded, "I just can't think of the word…"

Brooke laughed and rested her head against his shoulder, "Michael you are something else."

"Brooke you can't say that if I haven't even said what the first something is!"

~*~

"Yeah, Red Forman. He's there for a veteran's convention." Hyde repeated for what felt like the hundredth time, but this time he kept his voice soft and low.

However, he wasn't keeping is voice down because he wanted to; it was more like he had to. He was upstairs in Kitty's room with her, using the telephone while she slept peacefully on the bed.

"Yeah I need to tell him something." Hyde said into the phone and there was a pause before he rolled his eyes, "Yeah, it's important."

Another pause occurred as the person over in New York spoke. The person had obviously said something to upset Hyde as he forgot about who was in the room with him and raised his voice with annoyance.

"No, I'm not gonna tell you what it's about." He firmly told them, "Cause it's none of your damn business."

A small moan of pain reminded Hyde of his surroundings. He held his breath as he watched Kitty, hoping she wouldn't wake up. She may have been an ill woman and there were a few things she couldn't do anymore but getting mad at her children wasn't one of them.

After sitting as silent as a statue for a few more seconds, Hyde sighed and then began to speak into the receiver once again.

"Look man, can you help me or not?" he asked in his softer voice again, "It's a family emergency kinda deal and he needs to come home."

Silence filled the air for a few seconds as Hyde waited for a response. When he did get one, it wasn't what he had expected.

"You have his room number?" he asked, "Yeah, yeah pass me through."

Hyde felt some of the weight lift off of his shoulders, he was finally getting closer than he'd been before. He was gonna be able to tell Red what was going on now. A thought suddenly entered his mind and he looked over at the alarm clock.

It was late here which meant it was later in New York. Not only was Red gonna be woken up in the middle of the night by Hyde—that alone didn't look good to Hyde—but at almost one in the morning Hyde was gonna have to tell him he had to come back home because his wife was dying.

Talk about rude awakening.

"Um wait." Hyde said before the person on the other line could pass him over to Red, "Could you like give me his room number so I can call back tomorrow and tell them so I can get passed through faster…it's kinda late and he's probably asleep."

There was another pause.

"Great, ok yeah hold on let me get something to write on." He said and then reached over to grab a pen off the nightstand and then the newspaper from a few days back. "Ok, room 236…yeah I got it. Thanks man, I really appreciate it."

"Nah no message." Hyde answered after another pause. That would be the easiest and maybe even safest ways, but Hyde couldn't do that to Red, "I've gotta do this."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__And that was Chapter 8 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Now that Hyde's got Red's room number will he be able to contact Red? Will Kelso go visit his parents? Is Eric leaving or will he talk to Kitty? Or will he do both? Will Fez's plans for the night be fulfilled? Find out in the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Yup, I'm doing the questions closing again. I always liked the sitcom SOAP and when I did "Learning to Fly" I loved coming up with my own questions._

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	10. Shut Up, Jackie

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing! _

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone! Happy Monday! And Happy Spring Break to those of you who are on it…if you're not…sorry. Quick little notes: This chapter's a little shorter than usual, sorry about that but things are really gonna start moving along soon. Thanks so much for all the reviews you guys, I really appreciate them! And as I always say, please remember I am not a doctor or a nurse, I don't not work at a hospital…I did go to one this last week and will probably go again during this one… Anywoo thanks for reading and reviewing, sorry for it being a little too short and Enjoy!_

* * *

_Hyde filmed the scene of the kitchen. Kitty was mixing a large green bowl while standing infront of the counter space next to the oven. The oven that had two trays of cookies cooling on it. _

"_I thought you said you were just gonna make some cookies." Hyde said from behind the camera._

_Kitty looked up from the mixture and shook her head, "No, I said I was going to make some snicker doodles not just 'some cookies.'"_

"_Ok, fine. Then what's with the cake you're making now?"_

"_Steven, you can never have too many homemade sweets in the house." Kitty slightly scolded and then looked straight at the camera, "Remember that kids. Oh I need the eggs."_

_Kitty then left to the refrigerator door and in search of eggs. Only a few seconds passed before Kitty came back to the counter with three eggs in her right hand. _

_Hyde watched as she cracked open the eggs like a pro, over the mixing bowl. _

"_How do you do that?" he asked, "I mean you don't even have a recipe out or anything."_

_Kitty looked at her surrogate son and smiled "Steven, I've made this cake so many times I could recite it like it was the alphabet." She finished with one of her Kitty laughs._

"_So you don't have any of your recipes written down?"_

"_Well of course I do." Kitty answered as she moved away from the cake mixture and over to the cooling racks to start removing the cookies sand putting them on a glass plate. "They're all written down on recipe cards in that little box over there."_

_Kitty pointed at something that was in the direction of where Hyde was standing, but Hyde didn't get the chance to get a shot of it because Kitty had continued to talk._

"_I wrote them down for you kids. And for your future kids. And their future kids. And...well you get the point." She explained as she handed Hyde a cookie._

_Hyde accepted the treat and was quiet for a few second as he ate the cookie while still filming Kitty doing one of her favorite things._

"_You know Mom," Hyde called out cause Kitty to look up from the cookies, "I don't think any of us or our future…whatevers are gonna be able to make any of these things as good as you make them."_

_~*~_

It was very early in the morning when Eric woke up. Right away he got up and out of Jackie's bed and then began getting dressed, he didn't however, pack up any of his things. He figured he'd have time to do that later.

After putting on his shoes, Eric stuck his head out into the hallway to make sure no one was there.

He moved his head to the left and to the right but saw no one. Figuring he was safe, Eric stepped out into the hall and tried to make his way through it quickly but quietly.

Eric managed to creep past the closed doors of his parents' room and his old room without hearing a stir from any of the occupants in either room. Feeling proud of himself for sneaking past the rooms going unseen or unheard—it was so something Luke Skywalker would do—he smiled and headed down the living room staircase.

However, when he reached the middle step, his happy mood faded away and he felt his stomach fall when he saw the scene in the living room.

He'd forgotten that Donna and Randy were staying out on the sofa bed and so what he saw was not something he had been ready for.

The couple was still soundly asleep and snug under the covers. Donna was asleep on the left side of the bed, the side she and Eric use to fight over, while Randy slept beside her. And though they were fully clothed and weren't even cuddling close to each other, seeing Randy's arm draped across Donna's waist hurt Eric more than he thought it would.

Eric didn't want to wake the sleeping couple and so he went to the kitchen using the longer route. Through his father's den and the dinning room.

When he entered the kitchen he was happy to see it wasn't as full as it was yesterday; but still it saddened him because it was empty.

As Eric looked around the empty room his eyes stopped at the sliding door. He had stopped them to look at the new morning light out there, but then he noticed the garage door was wide open. And there was the Vista Cruiser parked inside with someone under the hood.

Eric had left the Vista Cruiser here with his parents when he moved Seattle. It was getting older and now he had a brand new car. Well a car that look brand new, but that was only because he only used it to drive to and from school and run the occasional errand.

He took a few more steps closer to the door, trying to get a better look but Eric had a good feeling of who it was. There was only one person he knew that worked on the Vista Cruiser like that.

"Might as well get this over with." He said to himself before opening the sliding door.

Eric cautiously walked through the chilly morning air and over to the figure whose lower body half was the only thing visible. Eric wondered if he should've brought something to protect him, so sort of shield maybe, or at least have called 911 in advance.

He decided not to be too close to the person when they would first see him, so he stood a few feet away as he called out their name in an uncertain, nervous tone of voice.

"Dad?"

Without any delay, the figure turned around and Eric saw that it wasn't his father at all. It was Jackie Burkhart with her hair back in a ponytail, wearing old faded baggy overalls, and smudges of grease on her face where a very angry frown indented.

"Oh my God, do I look like Red Forman?!" she asked as she turned herself to get a look at her back side.

Seeing Jackie and not his father, brought some relief to Eric but also startled him to say the least. He took a quick, small jump back before he walked towards her.

"No Jackie…I didn't mean it…I thought you were…"he frowned and stopped trying to defend himself as he noticed something, "Are you working on a car?"

Jackie sent him a sarcastic glance, "No, it's a boat."

"Have I told you how much I love our morning conversations?" Eric asked with a sarcastic tone and matching grin.

"Well excuse me," she said with a roll of her eyes, "I'm not use to people telling me I look like an old bald man."

Eric looked at the irate brunette with a surprised expression. He thought the two were pretty close, he never would have thought she'd call Red that.

"What?" Jackie asked seeing his look. Before Eric answered, she got the idea, "Look Eric you know I love your dad, but that doesn't change the fact that he's old and bald."

Eric nodded and watched as Jackie turned her attention to whatever was under the hood. He took a quick look inside, trying to see if he recognized anything. But he didn't know a thing that was in there…he did find something in there that looked like a heart though.

"So why are you working on the Vista Cruiser?" he asked. Jackie looked up and sent him a look that frightened Eric just a bit. "Oh right, yeah something's wrong with it." He quickly answered.

"Not something." she told him looking back at the engine, "Everything. This car is on its last legs."

Eric frowned, "Why doesn't Red just get rid of it?"

"Don't know." Jackie answered with a shrug, never looking up at him, "Maybe he thinks of it as a piece of you. Since it used to be your old car. Maybe he thinks If he can fix it you would come back home."

"You think?" Eric asked clearly surprised, he didn't think his father cared that much.

Jackie slowly looked back up at Eric and slowly allowed a smirk to appear on her lips, "No."

Eric's face fell as he heard Jackie's answer and saw her smirk. He frowned and pointed his finger at the now giggling brunette.

"You're…you're evil."

"Yeah, what else is new?" she asked casually before going back to working on the car.

"Look I don't know why your dad keeps this thing but he does and whenever your mom gets sick if he's not with her he's out her trying to fix this piece of junk." Jackie explained, "It's almost like he knows he can't fix what's going on with Mom and he feels helpless because of it. So he comes out here and tries to fix this disaster."

Eric nodded his head, he believed this one a lot more than the first. It sounded more like Red.

"Anyway, I'm working on it right now to try and make things a little easier to fix. That way when he does get home, he'll be able to fix it himself and well it'll at least bring him some happiness." Jackie finished and then saw Eric nod his head again, "What about you? What are you doing up so early?"

"Um I was gonna take a walk." He said.

"Were you gonna come back?"

"Yes I was gonna come back." He said as he stared at the back of her head, "My bags are still in your room and my flights not for awhile."

Jackie rolled here eyes, even though Eric wouldn't be able to tell, "Right."

"I had an early fight for this morning." Eric went on.

"Uh huh." Jackie said, sounding very uninterested.

"But I decided to get a later one." He explained, "One that leaves later on tonight."

Slowly Jackie moved her eyes to his direction, "Really?"

"Yeah."

Jackie straightened herself up and smiled. Sure he was still going through with his whole 'two days' deal; but at least he was planning on staying longer so he could spend some more time with Kitty.

"Do you want some coffee?" she asked with a smile.

Eric smiled back and nodded, "Yeah."

After Jackie slammed the hood close, the loud noise starling Eric, the two walked in silence back into the house.

When they entered the kitchen, Eric took a seat at the table while Jackie went over to the counter top next to the sink and began pouring the dark liquid into two yellow coffee mugs. She brought them over to the table and handed one to Eric before taking the seat next to him.

Jackie waited for Eric to take the first sip of his coffee, and she was glad she did. The facial expression he made after tasting the coffee showed that this wasn't the best cup of coffee he'd had…or anything close to it.

"It's instant." Jackie informed him.

"Yeah I can tell. It's got kinda of an aftertaste." Eric said as he made a few more faces, because he hadn't gotten the taste out of his moth, "And a beforetaste too."

"Fine. If you don't like it" she began as she took the cup out of his hands, "You can pick up coffee for everyone when you go buy breakfast for us."

"Yeah, I guess I could…wait what?"

"You can get everyone coffee when you go buy breakfast." Jackie repeated.

Eric frowned, "Wait, when did we decide I was getting breakfast?"

"You're not just _getting_, you're buying." She told him, "And last night at dinner."

"I wasn't even at dinner!" Eric protested as he waved his hands in the air.

Jackie just shrugged, "Sorry Eric, it's already been decided. See yesterday I bought breakfast, and Kelso, Brooke, and Fez got dinner last night. Steven stayed with Mom last night and Donna and Randy had volunteered to get dinner tonight. That left you with breakfast."

"But…"

"You better get going." Jackie said as she looked down at her watch, "You'd be surprised at how big the breakfast crowds can be. The keys to the Toyota are on the counter there."

"Jackie…"

"Oh and don't go getting anything cheap from the gas station or something like that, because we are _not_ eating that."

"But Jackie…"

"And don't you dare go get McDonalds either, we had that yesterday and you can easily get sick of fast food if you've had too much of it day after day."

"Jackie…"

"_And _don't forget the coffee."

This time Eric didn't say anything, he just stared at Jackie and it caused her to frown.

"What are you still doing here?" she asked.

Eric blinked his eyes a few times, "I…I don't know."

Gradually, Eric got up and out of his seat. Still with a slightly dazed expression he grabbed the keys off the counter and exited the kitchen.

Jackie grinned and turned her chair to watch Eric's exit. Her eyes fell a bit lower and he smile grew a bit larger. He did have a cute bottom. Suddenly her face dropped, when did she start checking out Eric Forman's—nerd boy's—butt?

"Hey Jackie."

Jackie leaped up in her chair as she heard the voice. She turned around to find it was only Hyde. He was standing infront of the swinging door, wearing the same clothes from yesterday.

"Oh Steven, hi." She said a bit nervously.

Hyde frowned at her as he watched her get up with the two mugs in her hands and walk over the sink. She never met his eyes and when she reached the sink, she kept her back towards him while she dumped the instant coffee down the drain.

"How's Mom doing?"

"She's asleep." He said, deciding to ignore her weirdness, he had something more important to tell her, "She got sick twice last night, but I handled it."

Still not having turned around, Jackie rolled her eyes. He'd been like this since the beginning. Whenever he was taking care of Kitty he put himself in full responsibility mode. He didn't want anyone else help, except Red's and that was only because Red had threatened him with a foot in the ass when he first started acting like that.

"Guess what happened last night." Hyde told Jackie and she sighed.

"I don't know." She said before changing her tone to a sarcastic one, "Mom got sick and you take of her all by yourself, and Steven if that's what you were gonna say…"

"I got Red's room number."

At last, Jackie turned around to face him. She didn't know if he was kidding or not, but she was praying that he wasn't.

"Really?" she asked softly.

"Yup." Hyde smirked, "Room 236."

Jackie's face broke out into a grin, "Steven that's so great!" and then she remembered something that caused her to become concerned, "Does Mom know?"

Hyde shook his head, "She was sound asleep when I called."

"Steven, this is the best news I've heard since this whole thing started." Jackie shared with her grin back on her face.

"I know."

"So?" Jackie asked, wanting the details, "What did Red say?"

"Oh…um…"Hyde struggled, "I haven't called him yet."

Jackie frowned at him _"What?"_

"Well I was gonna call him when they gave me his room number but it was already late and I didn't wanna tell him what was going on at like three in the morning." Hyde explained and Jackie nodded, "I was gonna see if you could call him, since I've gotta get dressed but apparently you've gotta do the same."

Jackie sent him a glare and crossed her arms over her chest, "Ha ha ha."

"Look we'll call Red the minute we get the chance to." Hyde said, "Now that we've got his room number it shouldn't take more than a minute or two to get to talk to him."

Jackie looked up at the kitchen clock. She was going to tell Hyde that she would make the phone call but he was right they needed to start getting themselves and everyone else ready.

"Ok." She agreed.

"Alright, I'm gonna go change. You might wanna start waking everyone up." Hyde suggested as he headed for the basement door.

"Ok." Jackie nodded, "Oh and she likes the color yellow."

Hyde stopped in his tracks and turned around to face a smiling Jackie.

"Who?" he asked with a scowl

"Angela."

Hyde continued to frown at Jackie, "Why would I care about what color Angie likes?"

"Oh?" Jackie asked in a easing voice and with her eyes opened wide, "So now she's _Angie_."

"Shut up, Jackie." he ordered before marching into the basement.

Jackie continued to smile and she ran to the basement door, "She also like The Rolling Stones. Hey that's something you guys have in common!" she hollered into the room.

"Shut up, Jackie!"

Jackie walked away from the basement door with her smile still on her face. It felt good to smile, a real smile, a real happy smile. Eric was going to stay just a little bit longer to be with his mother. And it was always nice to tease Steven. And they now had Red's room number. Maybe things would finally start looking up.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__And that would be Chapter 9 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_What will Eric get the gang for breakfast? When will they finally contact Red? Is there something going on between Hyde and Angela? Why was Jackie staring at Eric's bottom? Will the Vista Cruiser ever work again? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Special thanks to Marla's lost for lending me, Mechanical Jackie! And to those of you on Spring Break have a great and safe one!_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	11. So Good

_**Disclaimer: **__I own absolutely nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello all! I am soo sorry for the late update things just got crazy over here with three sick people in the house over the weekend and a butload of work to do for college algebra and now I've got some college registrations and finding out a few other stuff for it. Ugh my head. Anywoo enough of my complaining. I am so grateful for all the reviews you guys, you all are awesome! Now just some quick notes. This chapter is long I know, not the longest but a close second. Hope this won't discourage you from leaving reviews. I just couldn't cut it and I figured since I made you wait a day, a little more to the chapter wouldn't hurt. Second. There's a scene in here that I got almost directly from 'Two Weeks' the movie. It's the one with medical terms. I don't own that movie…I mean I own the DVD but that's it. And lastly, I am not a doctor or a nurse or anything in the medical field…although this weekend I did take care of a few sick patients. _

* * *

"_That was a good lunch, Mom."_

"_Well thank you, Steven." Kitty responded with a smile._

_Suddenly there was a loud snore like sound heard and both Hyde and Kitty turned their attention to the direction the noise had come from. Sure enough the noise had been a snore, made by Red Forman as he slept peacefully in his chair._

_Hyde smirked and left the camera on Red for a few more seconds, an opportunity like this was too good to waste._

"_Guess Red thought so too." Hyde commented and then moved the camera back to his surrogate mother._

_Kitty smiled in return, but then remembered something she had to tell Hyde, "Oh Steven, could you turn off the camera in a little bit? I need to put the leftovers away for Jackie." she explained, "It's a shame she couldn't come home for lunch today."_

"_Yeah," he agreed in a sarcastic tone, "A real shame."_

"_Steven." Kitty slightly scolded while sending him a warning look._

"_What? I'm agreeing with you." Hyde said trying his best to sound innocent._

_Kitty shook her head, still not looking very pleased, "Don't you have some questions to ask me?"_

"_Yeah, yeah." He nodded and then took a few seconds to try and recall one of the questions he and Jackie had come up with the night before._

"_Um now that you're on the other side and you're the patient…the one being taken care of." Hyde started his question, "What do you think of the doctors and nurses that are helping you out?"_

"_Well unlike Red, who thinks they're just a bunch of dumbasses, I think they're wonderful and really are a big help." She answered, "Of course I already knew most of the nurses and a few of the doctors from when I was working at the hospital, but there are a few new people I've met…"_

"_Like Angela." Hyde interrupted._

_A large smile wanted to come out, but Kitty tried her best to restrain it as she nodded her head, "Yes, like Angela."_

"_Right." Hyde agreed, trying to sound casual, "What do you think of Angela?"_

"_She's very nice. She's been with us since almost the beginning hasn't she?" Kitty asked with a small frown but didn't let Hyde answer, "I think she's a very nice young woman. She's friendly and very caring. I like her." she paused for a few seconds before her smile grew a bit more, "But I think the more important question is, what do you think of Angela?"_

"_I think you better put those leftovers away for Jackie now. We don't want them to go bad or she won't eat and that girl is too skinny…"_

_Kitty just laughed as she watched her second son ramble on while avoiding her question._

_~*~_

Inside the Forman kitchen, Kelso and Fez were seated at the round table.

Neither of them spoke a word. They just stared at each other, giving the other different looks; both of them had their cheeks expanded with the air they were holding in them.

Fez's eyes were wide and were beginning to water, as he clutched onto the edge of the table. He didn't want to loose! But his competition was tough. Kelso sat in front of the foreign man with his arms crossed and a smug look on his face as he kept his cheeks inflated as well. It was clear that holding his breath like this was a piece of cake for him.

It was this scene that welcomed Eric as he walked into the kitchen. His arms were definitely full. A medium sized plastic bag hung on his wrist and a tray, holding four cups of coffee, was in each of his hands.

"Hey guys." He greeted as he placed the trays on the counter.

Silence.

Eric frowned and turned back to his friends, "I said 'hey guys,'" he repeated, "now you say 'hi' back."

Fez nor Kelso looked his way. Fez's grip on the table tightened while Kelso raised both his eyebrows a few inches—he was gonna win!

Eric was still confused by why his friends weren't greeting him. He would understand if one of them were Hyde, but this was Kelso and Fez. There was almost no shutting them up!

He walked closer to the table and looked from Kelso to Fez, his brows knitting closer and closer together. Why did they have their cheeks out so big? It looked like they were holding their breaths… And then it hit him. This was Kelso and Fez! Two kids who loved playing games that showed they were better than the other.

Even though he had figured up just what it was his pals were up to, Eric didn't want them to continue on with their game. It was too quiet in the kitchen and he got enough of that in Seattle. Plus there was the fact that Fez's face was starting to turn a little blue.

"Guess no one gets the candy I was going to give the person who first said 'hi' to me." He said with a slight shrug and a fake disappointed tone of voice.

The two men with large puffed out cheeks looked over at Eric with shocked expressions. Suddenly there was a gasp of air.

"Hi Eric!" a foreign accent exclaimed and then started to pant a bit, "Now where is my candy?"

Eric smiled down at his friend and slapped his back, "Later, Fez."

This did not please Fez and his face showed it

"Not later." He replied in a firm voice, "Now you sonofabitch!"

"Fez, it's like ten in the morning." Eric reminded after taking a quick glance at his wristwatch.

"Yes, and breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Fez began, "And I wanted that meal to be candy!"

Eric shook his head, "I'll bring you some candy later on Fez."

"Hmmph." Fez answered as he crossed his arms, "Well it better be good."

"Ok." Eric sighed.

"And very sweet."

"Fine."

"And chocolaty."

"Alright!" Eric almost shouted, frightening Fez just a bit, but not too much because a few seconds later his smile slowly reappeared.

"Ok." Fez nodded.

Shaking his head again, Eric was obviously annoyed by the whole bag of candy. Of course he really had no one to blame but himself. He should've known better than to joke about having candy with Fez.

"So why were you guys holding your breath?" he finally asked.

Fez just shrugged his shoulder, "We were bored."

Eric nodded understandingly at Fez but when he turned to look at Kelso his confused frown reappeared. Kelso still had his cheeks looking like a chipmunk's.

"Kelso, man Fez already started breathing." Eric said in a bit of a slowly paced voice, "You won."

"He has been holding his breath for almost three minutes." Fez informed as he looked at his watch, "He has proven that not only is he very man pretty, he is also very talented."

At first, Eric had been amazed at his friend's ability to hold his breath for that long. It was pretty amazing…almost too amazing. Taking a step closer to Kelso, Eric scowled and tilted his head to the left just a bit. Then he placed his index finger and thumb over Kelso's nose and pinched it shut.

Not two seconds later, Kelso's eyes bulged out and he quickly swatted Eric's hand away.

"What are you trying to do kill me or something?!" he exclaimed, "God, Eric!"

"Yeah, real talented." Eric scoffed towards Fez.

Fez glared at the handsome man sitting infront of him, "You sonofabitch!" he hissed, "You were not holding your breath at all!"

"Yeah, I was!" Kelso argued, "I was holding it in my cheeks! And I was letting go of it through my nose!"

"That is not what we agree on!"

"Well it's not what we didn't agree on!" Kelso shot out.

Eric frowned with confusion as he tried to figure out what exactly Kelso had just said. But he didn't get the chance to replay the words in his head because Fez had started up again.

"You are a cheater!" he declared

"You're foreign!"

"What the hell does that have to do with you trying to kill me?!" Fez loudly asked, "Making me hold my breath while you were breathing away! I turned blue! And you know blue is not my color!"

"That's true." Kelso nodded before realizing what had been said before, "Hey I didn't try to kill you, if anyone tried to kill anyone it was Eric trying to kill me when he pinched my nose!"

By now, Kelso's anger had been moved over from Fez and to Eric. He frowned at the once twitchy, skinny, man.

"That hurt man!" he shouted.

"Yes." Fez agreed, slowly beginning to see Kelso point. "He was also the one who made me loose and all for some fake candy!"

Eric rolled his eyes, he couldn't believe how immature these guys still were. Ok yeah he could.

"Fez I…"

Before Eric could finish, Fez raised up his left hand, "I said fake candy!"

With that said, Fez turned around in his seat; so that he was facing away from Eric, giving him his backside. Seconds later, Kelso crossed his arms over his chest and did the same as Fez.

Eric stared at the back of his friends' heads. Great two more people that were mad at him, just when he thought things would start getting better. Who was he kidding, he was Eric Forman, nothing ever got better for him and if they did it was only a matter of time before something came to ruin it all.

He sighed slightly, he didn't want more people upset with him. He didn't want anyone upset with him. But working things out with these two characters would probably be easier than trying to fix things with the others.

"Come on you guys, don't be mad." Eric tried as he placed a hand on each of the men's shoulder.

They both shrugged them off.

Eric looked down at his empty hands and then at his angry friends and then he remembered something. He walked over to the counter where he had left the coffee and plastic bag he had brought back with him. Quickly he took out the item from the bag and made his way back to Fez and Kelso.

Eric grinned as he opened the box in his hands, "I got doughnuts!"

Through the corners of their eyes, Kelso and Fez exchanged a look. Then they looked up at the box of doughnuts Eric had. Then back at each other.

"So you tried to kill me, you're not the first guy!" Kelso said with a small shrug before reaching for the box and taking it out of Eric's hands.

"I still want my candy." Fez stated as he looked at the assorted pastries.

Eric smirked, "Sure thing, Fez."

He was glad Fez and Kelso weren't mad at him anymore. And it was all thanks to a box of doughnuts. If only doughnuts could fix all his other problems. Speaking of his other problems, where was everyone else?

"Hey guys, where is everyone else?" he finally asked.

"They're getting ready." Kelso explained as he tried to decide between a sprinkled doughnut and a chocolate covered one, "The girls are still getting dressed, cause you know how long girls can take."

"Yes, and Randy is still hogging up the bathroom. Blow-drying his wavy girl-like hair." Fez added bitterly, "I want hair like that."

"I know you do buddy." Kelso said patting his little buddy on the back, "Oh and Hyde's down in his room still getting dressed too. Guess all this time living with Jackie has gotten his girly side out of him."

"Yes. Oo we should call him Heidi!" Fez excitedly said.

Kelso nodded before his eyes got large, showing he had an idea. "Ooh or Sally!"

"Why Sally?" Fez questioned.

"I don't know!" Kelso shrugged.

Eric watched the two morons continue to ramble on, this time about what doughnut they were gonna choose. He'd blocked them out though; his mind was overflowing with question about where the others were. Sure Kelso and Fez had given an explanation, but not a very good one.

"They're getting ready?"

"Yup." Kelso nodded, "We'd be getting ready to but we don't have to."

"Yes, when we wake up we are handsome and ready to go!" Fez agreed with a large smile on his face.

"One of us is anyways." Kelso scoffed.

Fez looked angrily across the table, "You sonofabitch…"

"Hey, hey guys" Eric called out, putting his hands up in the air, trying to keep them from having yet another pointless argument "What's everyone getting ready for?"

"For Angela." Fez answered.

"Or as Hyde like to cal her, _Angie_." Kelso said in a teasing voice, despite the fact that Hyde was way down in the basement.

Eric still didn't understand, "Who's Angela? Or Angie?" he shook his head, "Who is she?"

"She's the nurse that comes to help take care of your mom. She's coming today." Kelso informed before his eyes lit up like a small child's, "Awesome! Chocolate Éclair!"

Eric frowned as he watched Kelso lift out the long doughnut and Fez reached over for a coffee.

"Wait a nurse?" Eric asked, "What does mom need a nurse for? She's a nurse. She knows what to do. Can't she take care of herself?"

"Apparently not." Fez replied before taking a sip of coffee only to quickly pull it away from his lips, "Aye! Hot! Hot! My tongue! I may never taste candy again!"

Eric ignored his foreign friend's cries and stood lost in his own thoughts. His mom needed a nurse to come take car of her? What kind of stuff did she do for her? Was it big difficult stuff? Or was his mom having trouble doing everyday things?

This was just another thing he feared about coming back home to see her. He didn't want to see his mom getting help from strangers, she was the one who was supposed to help them.

What was this Angela like? Was she even a real nurse? Or was she just some lady coming pretending to take care of Kitty but in reality was stealing from them? Was she taking good care of his mom? Making sure she felt ok, giving her medicines and stuff like that? Had she taught Jackie and Hyde how to do that stuff? Would she teach him?

"Um do you know what time she's' gonna get here at?" Eric asked, trying to sound casual.

"Think Hyde said at like twelve." Kelso said his mouth full of his éclair.

"Ok." Eric nodded and looked down at his watch. It read ten forty-five, again Eric nodded, "I can do this."

"What?" Fez asked not moving his tongue because of the pain.

"I'll be right back you guys." Eric said as he headed for the side door.

Kelso frowned and swallowed the last of his doughnut, "Where're you going?"

"Um I forgot the coffee." Eric lied and then he was out the door.

Kelso and Fez both showed confused expressions as they saw their friend's exit. The room grew quite once again. Kelso went back to the box, looking for another treat and Fez carefully tried to enjoy his coffee.

"Hey." Kelso said in a tone of voice that showed he had figured something out as he slowly looked up from the box and over at Fez.

"When you hold up doughnuts like this," he said as he picked up to doughnuts and held them in a way that you could still see the holes in the middle, "they look like boobs!"

Fez grinned and nodded along with Kelso. The thought of where Eric had gone was far, far away from their minds.

~*~

Hyde had just made himself comfortable on the yellow sofa in the living room when the doorbell rang. Now usually Hyde would've ignored it and waited until someone else answered it or until the person finally gave up and left. This time however, when he heard the first chime he was quick to get on his feet and over to the front door.

He opened the door to find Angela standing there in a little more casual style of clothing. Jean pants, red turtleneck, and matching jean jacket.

"Hi." Hyde greeted trying to keep his Zen.

"Hi." Angela smiled, "Sorry I'm a little late. I had to change there at the office. Not to _nursey _right?"

Hyde shook his head as he looked her over, "Nope. It looks great….I mean you look great."

"Thanks." She smiled again and then took notice of his yellow Rolling Stones concert t-shirt. "Nice, shirt. I love The Rolling Stones."

"Yeah? I didn't know that." Hyde said trying to sound surprised.

"Yup." Angela nodded before looking towards the staircase, "Is Mrs. Forman in her room?"

"Um yeah, yeah." Hyde nodded, "Here I'll go with you."

After a nod from Angela, the two started to climb the steps of the staircase making abit of small talk.

"So how's she been?" Angela asked.

Hyde nodded, "Pretty good I guess. Me and Jackie've been staying with her at night. Sometimes she wakes up cause of the pain and sometimes it's cause she feels sick, but it's not too bad that we don't know what to do."

"That's good." She told him as they walked through the upstairs hallway to Kitty's room.

"Yeah." Hyde nodded, not noticing that he was standing infront of Kitty's closed door.

Angela gave him a bit of a questioning look, but Hyde still didn't seem to catch on so she decided to just ask.

"Are you gonna open the door?"

"Oh right." Hyde was quick to say before opening the door even quicker.

He left Angela enter the room first as he stayed out in the hall for a few more seconds asking himself when exactly did he turn into Eric?

"Hi Mrs. Forman."

Kitty smiled a small smile from her bed, "Hello Angela. How are you dear?"

"I'm doing good." Angela replied and then looked around the full room, "You seemed to have done something new to your room haven't you? I don't remember it being so crowded before."

Crowded was just the right word to describe the room that now held eight people. Kitty was on the bed with Jackie sitting beside her on the right side of the mattress. Donna and Randy had taken ownership of the arm chair in the room. Randy sat on the actual seat while Donna sat on the arm. Fez and Kelso were also on the room, but they were standing up playing a game of rock, paper, scissors until Angela walked in.

"Angela, these are the rest of my basement babies." Kitty began before introducing them all, "This is Donna and her fiancé Randy. And over there is Fez and Michael."

Angela smiled politely at the group, "It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"Oh no, no." Fez started to say in a deep, sexy voice, "The pleasure is mine."

Kelso bumped Fez's shoulder with his own, "No, the pleasure is _mine_."

"I said the pleasure is _mine_." Fez firmly said.

Kelso frowned, "Yeah well..."

"Hey Tweedle Dee Tweedle Dum. Knock it off." Hyde ordered before frogging them both in the arm.

"Are you all going to be in here the whole time?" Angela asked the group.

"Yeah. They're all pretty much staying here for the rest of the week." Jackie explained, "We thought if they were in here they could understand a little more about what's going on and maybe be able to help out abit."

Angela smiled, "I think that's a wonderful idea."

"It was my idea." Three different manly voices called out.

Angela just smiled at Hyde, Fez, and Kelso before speaking again. "Ok, well I'm just gonna check on a few things with Mrs. Forman and then I can start explaining everything for you all."

Everyone in the room gave an understanding nod and then let Angela do what she had to do. Kelso and Fez went back to their game, not paying much attention to who was drawing what. They like the others had their eyes towards Angela and Kitty.

Donna watched as Angela checked on the needle that was in the back of Kitty's hand. She shivered just a bit, though needles weren't her biggest fear she wasn't their biggest fan either.

"Does that needle hurt Mrs. Forman?" she decided to ask.

"No." Kitty answered with her eyes closed for only a few seconds before they reopened and she gave a slight smile "You get use to it."

"Hey you know, I just realized my grandpa used to have an IV machine thing like that too." Randy commented, "After he died though Grandma turned it into a lamp. I think it's still at my parents' house."

As Randy continued to ramble on about his dead grandparents, Jackie snuck her way off the bed and made her way over to where Kelso and Fez were standing.

"Where's Eric?" she whispered.

"Getting coffee." Fez whispered back, not quite sure why they were whispering.

"What? I thought he was the one who got the coffee and doughnut." Jackie said still in a hush voice, "Who got that coffee?"

Kelso decide to join the conversation, "Eric."

Jackie's frown deepened and at that same moment both Kelso and Fez realized something they had missed earlier today.

"Uh-o." Fez began, "I don't think Eric knows he got coffee."

Jackie shook her head slightly. "I think he does."

Before Fez or Kelso could ask what she was talking about the bedroom door opened up once again.

"Ok, I'm here. Sorry I'm late." The person apologized, "I just got Betsy to take her nap."

"It's fine, really. I was just about to start going over a few things." Angela explained.

"Oh, ok, good." Brooke nodded, sighing a small sigh of relief. She really wanted to be here so she could find a few more ways of helping out around here. "I'm Brooke by the way. Michael's wife."

"Yeah, but we're only married cause we've got a kid together." Kelso quickly told Angela earning him a death glare look from his wife, "Oh and cause she's hot and we're madly in love."

He then kissed his angry wife's cheek.

~*~

"I've set the nutrient IV up in the port-a-cath." Angela explained to the group a couple of minutes later.

"What's that?" Fez curiously asked

"It's a metal valve they inserted in my chest, it opens right into an artery" Kitty explained, "The chemo gets in faster."

Kelso frowned, "Do you leak or anything?"

That earned him at least five hits from those standing around him. It did make Kitty smile, though.

"I haven't yet." She told him.

"It's one way." Angela continued, "The morphine dispenser hooks into the same line." She turned to Kitty, "If you're in any pain and the medicines don't seem to be working, just push the button."

Kitty nodded as her left hand held onto the control Angela was talking about and her other hand was clasped between both of Jackie's.

Angela looked up at the group. They each had their own concerned expressions on their faces. Especially the ones she had just met. Randy had his sympathetic hand on Donna's knee. Brooke had her hands intertwined with Kelso's and Fez had one most worried looks his friends had ever seen on his face.

"Um I do." Hyde said raising his hand, trying to break the tension in the room, "Do we all get one?"

While his friends stifled their giggles or gave tiny smiles, Kitty shot him a warning look as Angela shook her head and smiled.

~*~

"Hey Jackie," Donna began as she turned to look at her friend.

It was a few minutes after Angela had left. The two of them were sitting in the living room. Everyone else was either in the basement or with Kitty.

"I didn't wanna say anything in front of Hyde, but where's Eric?"

"I don't know." Jackie shook her head as she kept her eyes on the magazine she was flipping through. "He either went to go get coffee or went back to Seattle."

"What?" a shocked Donna asked.

"Yeah, I know." Jackie nodded looking away from the magazine and at Donna, "He already got the coffee this morning with the doughnuts."

"Jackie, that not what I'm what-ing about." Donna began, wanting to get this straight, "Why did you say Seattle? Did he already leave?"

"Well his bags are still in my room but I'm not exactly sure if that was part of his whole 'Two Days Plan'" Jackie stated.

Donna continued to frown, Jackie wasn't making any sense.

"What 'Two Days Plan'?"

Jackie looked at Donna with a slight scowl before realizing she hadn't told her yet. "Oh that's right you don't know yet."

"I could've told you that." Donna replied dryly.

Jackie nodded before moving her legs up to the sofa and getting comfortable, it was kind of a long story. Before she started speaking though, she had to smile. This reminded her of when she was younger and she and Donna would gossip down in the basement. We'll she would gossip, Donna would try to ignore her. That wasn't what she was doing this time around though.

"Ok, well it started yesterday. I snuck Eric past Steven so he could see Mom." Jackie explained, "Cause you know how upset Steven is with Eric, right?"

"No, really?" Donna asked sarcastically, "I couldn't tell."

Donna's tone did not please Jackie and she so she shot the lumberjack a sideways look.

"Donna, sarcasm is not going to get you back in the loop."

Donna really did want to know what was going on, so she nodded, "Ok, ok. Go on."

"So I snuck Eric in to see Mom and she was so happy when she saw him and he looked happy too. Everything was going great and it was all thanks to me." Jackie went on, "But then something happened…"

"Eric opened his mouth." Donna guessed.

"Exactly!" Jackie replied, "He opened his mouth and started talking about how he needed perfect attendance at school to get some award or something. And then he started talking about this 'Two Days Plan.' He say he says he's gonna leave back to Seattle today and then he'll come back here late Friday night. Then'll he'll leave Sunday to Seattle and come back on Friday again. That way he won't miss any school days."

"He's gonna leave his sick mother to go to school?" Donna asked with anger clearly in her voice, "That dillhole."

Jackie nodded in agreement with her own frown in place. The two women sat on the couch with deep frowns as they thought over the whole situation. Suddenly one of the frowns disappeared.

Jackie turned towards Donna, "Donna will you talk to him?"

"What?"

"Come on Donna, he need someone to get through to him."

Donna continued to frown at the tiny brunette, "Jackie why me? Eric and I haven't really talked to each other in years."

"Because there's no one else who'll do it, Donna." She explained, "Look I can't do it because I've got my own plan on getting him to stay. Steven won't do it. Eric barely knows Randy and Brooke. And if I ask Fez or Kelso they'll just end up talking about boobs and candy."

"I just don't know Jackie." Donna said with a shake of her head, "Eric and I aren't close anymore, not since Africa."

"Donna you've got to do it." Jackie argued in an almost pleading tone, "Eric needs to realize that he's got to spend some time with his mother or he'll regret it for the rest of his life."

The tall redhead still wasn't completely convinced.

"But Jackie…"

"If not for Eric, for Mrs. Forman."

Donna exhaled loudly, great now Jackie was playing the dying woman card and she wasn't even the dying woman!

"Fine." She at last agreed, "But I'm not promising anything."

Jackie smiled and nodded, "Yeah, yeah. Now you wanna hear my plan?"

"Is it good?" Donna asked with a raised eyebrow.

"So good." Jackie answered with a smirk before she started to explain her idea to keep Eric from leaving back to Seattle so soon.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__And that friends is Chapter 10 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Special thanks to McAcid who suggested the doughnuts!_

_Where did Eric go? How will his talk with Donna go? Will Jackie's plan stop Eric from going? What is Jackie's plan? And when is Hyde going to call Red? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	12. Let's Go

_**Disclaimer: **__I own…um let me see…nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello Everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend and cause it was Easter did any of you watch the Garage Sale just to here Red sing the Peter Cottontail song? Or was that just me? I am so sorry for not updating last week and for updating kinda late today, midterms are back for my college algebra. Can you believe that who has two midterms?! College I guess lol. But I hope you guys can forgive me and will like this chapter. I know it's kinda short but it is pretty important but I won't say why. Couple of notes. Thanks for all the reviews you guys I love you all! Um thanks again to MxAcid for the doughnut idea and sincere apologies too for spelling her name wrong. I really should do my spell checking a lot carefully. And finally I am not a doctor and I don't have any books on medical stuff…except for romance novels where one of the charters is sick. Those are so sad…Anywoo thanks for reading hope you like and Enjoy!_

* * *

"_Who did you have a harder time telling about the diagnosis?" Hyde asked Kitty from behind the camera, "Us kids or Red?"_

_Kitty took maybe a second or two before answering, "You kids."_

"_Really?"_

"_Yup." She said as she nodded her head for awhile before stopping to explain, "Well I guess that's mostly because I wasn't the one who told Red about it."_

"_You weren't?" Hyde asked sounding confused._

"_No. You see I told him about the test that I was going to have done, the ones before they found the cancer, and he insisted that he came along." She began to explain, smiling just slightly, "Of course I loved him for saying that without me having to ask him."_

_She gave a small Kitty giggle and Hyde let out his own short laugh before Kitty went on._

"_So we went and I had the test done, and then we had to wait a few days for the results."_

"_A few days?" he asked, "I can't remember you guys acting any different before you told us about what was going on."_

"_Well we didn't want to worry you kids." Kitty explained, "We didn't really think there'd be anything too serious, so we decided to just keep it to ourselves. Of course…"_

"_There was." Hyde finished for her and she nodded._

"_We both went to the doctor's office that day and Red was in the room with me when the doctor told me." Kitty said while looking away from the camera and more towards the floor. "So it was really the doctor who told him about the cancer."_

"_How'd he take it?"_

_Kitty looked up again, "He was upset, but he was also very strong. Just like his been through out this whole mess. The truth is though…" she drifted off as she looked to her right._

_Hyde followed her eyes with the camera and got another shot of the snoozing Red. He moved the camera back to film Kitty._

"_I'm pretty sure he's out." He told her, "I think it's safe for you to say it."_

_Slowly Kitty looked back at the camera and nodded her head, "I think he really is worried. Even more than you kids."_

_~*~_

Hyde paced around the kitchen with the newspaper in his hand.

He'd stop and walk over to the phone only to walk away and start pacing again. He had to make this phone call, he knew it, but he was still pretty nervous about it.

How could he tell the man, who's been like father to him for almost his whole life, that the woman who meant the world to him was dying? That she only had a few days left.

And that wasn't the only thing that had Hyde pacing. What about Red's reaction? What would that be like?

Would he cuss and swear until he turned blue in the face? He probably knew enough words to. Would there be a foot in the ass threat? Probably. Would he be so devastated, he'd start crying? Hyde had never seen Red cry, he wasn't even sure if Red was capable of producing tears. And he didn't want to find out. What if he was so shocked he had another heart attack? The man had heart problems and take out food they'd get when Kitty was sick before wasn't helping.

But then another question came to Hyde's mind.

What if he didn't make it in time? Kitty was getting worse—slowly but still—Angela had said so too. If Red didn't get to see Kitty one more time or get to tell her goodbye just because he was too nervous to call Red and let him know, Hyde didn't think he could live with himself.

Taking a deep breath, Hyde walked over to the yellow phone once again and this time picked up the receiver.

"Here we go." Hyde muttered to himself, before punching in number practically knew by heart.

There was a long pause before someone picked up the other line. "

"Hi um… can I speak to Mr. Red Forman, he's in room 236." He said looking at the paper he'd written on last night. "Thanks."

Another pause occurred as Hyde waited for his surrogate father to pick up the phone. He could feel his heart beating faster and faster, how was he supposed to work this into the conversation. "Hey Red, how's New York? Sucks huh? Well that's good cause you've gotta come home Mom's dying." Hyde shook his head and tried to keep his Zen inside and out.

"Hello?" a gruff voice asked.

Hyde froze.

"Hello?"

"Um, hey Red." Hyde managed to speak.

Red Forman frowned on the other line as he stood in his hotel room. "Steven? What are doing calling me?"

"Um nothing." Hyde lied, "Just called to see what's up."

Hyde's words did anything but assure Red that he was calling for nothing. Red's frown deepened before he spoke into the receiver again.

"Damn it!" he cursed, "Are you in jail?!"

"What? No." Hyde answered, feeling shocked and not so much hurt, "We were just kinda sitting here and wondering what New York was like."

"And that's why you called?" Red asked still not at all convinced.

Hyde nodded, "Yeah…me and Jackie were talking about it and then remembered you were over there. So what do you think about it?"

Red was still pretty damn sure this was not the reason behind Hyde's call, but he figured he'd go along and then make sure the dumbass paid the fees for the phone call.

"New York's something else, Steven." He began a small smirk starting to appear, "I'm thinking about bringing Kitty over here for our next vacation, I think she'd enjoy it. Of course you and The Loud One would have to tag along too. There're a lot of stores here and I don't want Kitty to dragging me into any of them, so that's where The Loud One comes in. And who knows what kind of trouble you'd get into if we left you alone at home."

Hyde just nodded, saddened by the fact that that trip would never happen. He took in another deep breath and decided now was as good a time as any.

"Um speaking of Mom…"

"What happened?" Red was quick to ask before Hyde could even finish.

"I think you better sit down, Red." Hyde suggested, trying to buy him a bit more time.

"I am." Red lied, but he was standing infront of the hotel bed just incase.

"She's…"Hyde paused trying to figure out the best way to word this. That small pause causing Red's heart race to quicken, "She's sick…really sick."

"What are you talking about?" Red asked, his heart still pounding fast as his confusion and concern grew, "She was perfectly fine when I left…"

"No, she wasn't." Hyde interrupted.

"What?"

Hyde sighed, he hadn't told the others but Red had to know. "She was sick before you left, weeks before. She kept it hidden and none of us noticed. This last Thursday, she started with this pain and Jackie and me took her to the hospital . That's when we found out."

Red cleared his throat, pushing back his emotions, "What did they say?"

"It's not good, man." Hyde replied with a shake of his head,

"What did they say, Steven?" Red repeated in a more affirmative and scary tone.

Hyde looked down at his feet, it was as if Red was in the room and he couldn't bear to look him in the eyes as he told him.

"They gave her two weeks." He told him solemnly, "Maybe three."

Over in New York Red felt his heart fall. He slowly sat himself down onto the bed behind him, not wanting to believe what his ears had heard but knowing he had to. His wife, the mother of his children, his best friend, the love of his life was dying. He put his head in his right hand, covering his eyes, slumping his back a little and feeling very thankful that Hyde couldn't see him.

Feeling the same emotions he'd felt when he himself had first found out, Hyde waited patiently for Red to say something. It was quiet for along while until he heard Red mutter a curse word that he couldn't agree more with, and then they fell back into the silence.

"Red, you need to come home man." Hyde said sounding drained, he knew he shouldn't have rushed him but the sooner he got back home the better, "She's not getting better…she needs you here."

"I've already found the number to the airport." Red informed looking down at the phone book he had opened some time during the silence.

Hyde sighed a sigh f relief, he knew could count on Red. Now that they'd gotten a hold of him he'd be he faster than he could put a foot in someone's ass.

"I knew I shouldn't have come to this damn convention." Red mumbled, kicking himself for not realizing that Kitty had been sick for awhile.

"Mom wanted you to go, man." Hyde reminded, "She didn't know it was gonna get this bad while you were gone."

Red closed his eyes again, "Let me talk to her."

Hyde looked around the room with uncertainty, "Um I can't really do that right now?"

"Why the hell not?" Red asked his gruff voice hiding that he was really fearing the worst.

"Mom doesn't know I called you… actually I wasn't even supposed to call you."

Red's brows knitted together, "What?"

"She didn't want us to bother you while you're over there." Hyde began to explain, "Mom doesn't want her to be the cause for you leaving the convention. She wants you to have a good time."

"Like I can have a good time now." Red mumbled rubbing his temples, "That does sound like Kitty, though."

"Yeah…so what are you gonna do?"

"What do you mean, what am I gonna do?" Red questioned in an angry tone, "I'm going home. And I don't want you telling Kitty, she doesn't want her being sick to be why I come back home then we won't tell her I found out. I'll make up something to tell her when I get there."

Hyde frowned, "You're gonna lie to her?"

"That'll make her happier than her finding out that I'm coming home because you called me." Red explained, "And right now we need to make sure Kitty is comfortable and happy."

"Right." Hyde nodded.

"Now I'm going to call up the airport and find the next plane that'll get me back in Wisconsin." Red continued and Hyde nodded again, "And Steven."

"Yeah, Red?" he asked hoping he didn't ask about getting a hold of anyone else. Hyde didn't want to explain that all the kids that use to hang out in his basement were back and weren't staying just in the basement this time.

"Until I get there," Red paused, hating himself for saying those words. He should've been there. "Take care of her for me." He finished not hiding the emotion in his voice this time.

"Yes, sir."

~*~

It was a few hours later, when Donna Pinciotti began looking around the room as she sat in a green chair in the kitchen. She had spent many of days in here. Maybe not as much as the basement. And maybe it was only for a few minutes. But still she had plenty of fond memories in this room, most of them with Kitty.

In fact now that she thought about it, all the times she was in here so was Kitty, she might have been in the background but she was there. She was always in here serving her family a meal, baking some treats for her basement babies, sometimes cleaning, and sometimes just sitting at the table with some coffee and a magazine.

Donna smiled a small smile. Kitty really did love this room…it was almost depressing to not see her in it now.

Sure, she and Kitty didn't exactly see eye to eye. Especially during the time that she and Eric were engaged. But Donna had always blamed that on the menopause, that thing caused a lot of trouble. Over the years though, as the menopause faded, the two women kept in touch. Not too much, but just enough to exchange a few letters and a phone call now and then.

Kitty always made sure Donna knew that she could come to her for any advice and for that Donna was grateful. After all, as much as she loved her mother Midge, she wasn't exactly the sharpest tack.

"Hey, babe."

Breaking out of her thoughts, Donna turned towards the basement to see Randy walking towards her.

"Hey." She greeted with a small smile as he took a seat in the chair beside her.

"So I was thinking since we're gonna have to go get dinner for everyone in an hour or two, we could leave and find some interesting upbeat place to kill some time."

Donna scowled at her fiancé, "In Point Place?"

Randy noticed her 'Are you serious?' tone and decided to change his answer.

"Or you know," he shrugged, "we could go some where boring and depressing."

Donna gave a smirk and nodded, "That opens up a lot more options."

"Yup." Randy grinned, "Come on let's go."

"I can't. Not now anyways." She said, stopping him from standing up.

Randy frowned slightly, "Why?"

"I need to talk to Eric."

"About…" he said, waiting for her to continue.

Donna took in a deep breath, "Eric's planning on leaving today."

"Where?" Randy asked a bit confused.

"Back to Seattle." She answered giving him a sideways look.

"But his moms here. And sick." The feather-haired man stated the obvious, "I remember when my grandma was sick I couldn't stand leave her for the night."

Donna rolled her eyes. She loved this man deeply, but sometimes his grandma stories got to be a little too much.

"I know. That's why I've got to talk to him." Donna began to explain, "I've got to try and talk to sense into him and get him to stay and spend some time with his mom before…well you know."

Randy nodded understand but then frowned, "But why do you have to talk to him about it?"

"Because I want to, Randy. The Formans are important to me especially Mrs. Forman. And Eric and I did use to be really close. And because…Jackie told me to." She finished with her voice lowering towards the end.

Randy laughed a bit, "Ok, I guess we can go find that boring place tomorrow." He said with a shrug, "But I really don't think you have to talk to Eric. I mean I know our situations aren't really the same but I didn't have anyone talk to me when my grandma was dying and I've handled it pretty well."

The blonde woman stared at her smiling fiancé as she came to a realization.

"I have to talk to Eric." She quickly said causing Randy to frown.

It was at that moment that the side door was slid open and Eric Forman practically ran inside and past the couple at the table. Randy waved towards him while Donna frowned. Why was he in such a rush? And was he holding a bouquet of flowers?

"Eric?" she called

Eric slowed down just abit to turn around and face down, but then quickly turned back to the swinging door.

"Can't talk, Donna."

"No Eric, we need to talk now." She called after him, her frown larger than before, "It's important."

"Later." Was the last thing Eric said before vanishing into the living room.

With her scowl still in place, Donna stood up and marched over to the kitchen door. She pushed it open just in time to see Eric dashing up the staircase the pink flowers still gripped tightly in his hand.

"Look like you don't have to talk to him now." Randy said from where he was standing right beside Donna.

"I guess so." Donna agreed still not looking very happy. _What was that all about?_ she thought to herself and then turned back to Randy, "Let's go."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__And that would be Chapter 11 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_I hope i wrote Red ok, it's kinda been awhile since i wrote him with such a big scene and then to have it be this one. I got a little misty eyes writting the scene...could be cause i'm also a big Red and Kitty fan._

_Where did Eric go? Why was he in such a rush? When will Red be back home? What will happen when he sees the gang? What about when he sees Kitty? And what is Jackie's plan? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	13. Deal

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing._

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone! So sorry for not updating sooner things got crazy and I woke up feeling really sick, but I still went to school and when I got home I wrote a little then started to do some cleaning and had an apple juice and now I feel great! I blame the apple juice that's why I keep my fridge stocked with it! But it is still Monday where I am, so I'm not really late. But anyways ,just a few notes. First: thanks for all the reviews and alerts and favorites you guys. You all are awesome! Second: So glad you guys thought I did that last chapter with Red very well. Sorry I made some of you cry. Ill try to put some tissue warnings next time. Third: I am not a doctor I know almost no medical terms, my prescription to getting over a cold stay in bed for a few hours with some good TV and a big bottle of apple juice. Enough chit chat though. Enjoy!_

* * *

"_I think our family is close." Kitty nodded at the camera, "I mean sure, we're not The Waltons. And we never will be—Red would never want to live on farm like that. But we're still a close knit family."_

"_Except for Laurie." Hyde reminded_

_Kitty gradually nodded her head, "Yes, except for Laurie but she's still part of this family."_

"_Can't we kick her out?"_

"_Steven." Kitty said sounding slightly surprised, "As…'Laurie' as Laurie can be, she is still mine and Red's daughter. She's part of this family whether she likes it or not."_

"_Alright." Hyde mumbled, "How about if we replace her? We'll get another girl who's name is Laurie, and she'll look like her but won't act like her."_

_Kitty shook her head, trying not to laugh at her adopted son's joke._

"_They do it on the hit TV shows." He shrugged behind the camera._

"_As I was saying," Kitty went on, sending a warning glance towards Hyde and the camera, "Our family is close…that includes all you kids."_

"_Yeah, I guess our mismatched family is pretty tight." Hyde agreed, causing Kitty to smile._

"_Yes we are, and I love my little mismatched family." She continued, her smile growing as she kept her eyes on the camera, "I love you kids call sometimes just because. And not just me and Red…well mostly me, but each other too. Even thought you're all miles apart, you still some make time for each other. This mismatched family may not be physically close, but we're close in every other way." _

_~*~_

As Eric ran up the staircase, part of his mind wondered what Donna wanted to talk to him about. It seemed pretty important, but they hadn't seen or talked each other in years, it couldn't have been that important. It especially couldn't have been more important than this.

With the bouquet of flowers clutched in his right hand, he practically jumped over the last two steps and onto the landing. Once he was on the next level of the house, he didn't slow down. He kept up his pace and ran towards the bedrooms.

However, before he could reach any of the three he bumped into an obstacle. Literarily. He fell to the floor and looked up to see that his obstacle was a petite angry brunette. Uh-o.

"Eric?" She asked sounding upset, but not quite sure why. There were so many reasons to choose from.

"Sorry, Jackie." Eric apologized as he scrambled to his feet.

Jackie frowned at his weird behavior. "What…"

"Can't talk now Jackie." he told her with a shake of his head as he got ready to take off again, "I can't be late."

"Who are you? The rabbit from _Alice in Wonderland_?" Jackie asked, her brows knitted even closer together.

That comment got Eric to slow down his pace and turn around to look at her.

"Sorry." He began, "I just wanna be there when Angie gets here…"

"Angela?"

"Oh right. Yeah sorry." Eric apologized once again, "I was talking to Fez and Kelso and they said Hyde called her…"

Jackie shook her head, stopping Eric from going on. "Angela left already, Eric." She told him softly, "She left like almost two hours ago."

"What? No." Eric said in disbelief, he pulled up his wrist to look at his watch, "It's barely gonna be twelve. That's the time Kelso told me she was coming at."

Jackie continued to frown, this was getting more and more confusing. She took a few steps closer to him and then pulled his wristwatch and arm closer to her. She read the time. It did say eleven fifty-five. The second hand was moving so his watch was still working. And then she realized what had happened.

She sighed, "Eric, your watch is still on Seattle time."

Eric's face fell and he brought his watch back to his face. He was on Seattle time, he hadn't bothered fixing it because he thought he'd be back there by now. Earlier today with Fez and Kelso he had added the extra hours, but they'd completely slipped his mind while he was out. And he now was late too. He had missed the visit with the nurse. He had missed his chance.

"Crap." He cursed under his breath.

Jackie just stood silently watching him. The energy he had when he bumped into her seconds ago had vanished and now he looked upset and disappointed. Very upset and disappointed.

"You really wanted to be here when Angela was here." She said her face softening a little more.

"Yeah, a little earlier too." Eric began, as he lifted up the bouquet just a few inches, "I bought mom some flowers and I wanted to give them to her before the nurse got here."

Jackie smiled at the gesture and took a look at the flowers, "Pink carnations."

Eric nodded, looking down at the flowers, "They're one of her favorites."

"I know." Jackie smiled and nodded, glad that Eric had remembered, "She's asleep right now, but you can bring them up to her in a few minutes."

"What about Angela?" he asked, "I kind of…I made…there were some questions I wanted to ask her."

Jackie looked on as Eric reached into his back jean pocket and pulled out a yellow sheet of paper that seemed to have some writing on it. A lot of writing on it.

"Can I see it?" she asked softly, already stretching her arm out for the paper.

Eric simply handed her the folded piece of paper. He kept his eyes on the flowers he'd bought for his mother, as he heard the crackling of the paper being unfolded.

Jackie skimmed her eyes over the paper rather quickly. There were a lot of questions he'd come up with. So many that there was practically no blank space on wither side. Taking another look at paper, Jackie took the time to read a few of the questions.

A lot of them dealt with ways that he could help Kitty. Other questions were about, what to expect and what was exactly going on with his mother. After going through this times before, Jackie knew most of the answers to these questions. But she wasn't going to give them to him until she got an answer of her own.

"Eric," she called out, "why did you take off after dropping off breakfast? I mean I know you got the flowers, but that couldn't have taken two hours."

"It was a long line." He said jokingly with a shrug.

Seeing Jackie's un-amused face, Eric knew he'd better tell the truth. He cleared his throat before explaining.

"I wanted to work on the questions. I went to the park and just started thinking about what to ask." He explained, "I wanted to make sure I asked everything I needed to know."

"And you couldn't have done that here?"

Eric shot her an _'are you serious?'_ look before speaking, "Would you be able to concentrate in a house with your ex-girlfriend and her fiancé in it, your moody adoptive brother, ignoring you, three screaming kids running around, and the devil?"

"I guess you're right." She gradually agreed and then looked back at Eric's questions, "You know, I know some of the answers to these questions."

Eric's face lit up just abit, "Really?"

"Yeah." she nodded, "And I'm sure whatever I don't know, Steven does. We could ask him…"

"Yeah ok." Eric snorted, he knew the chances of Hyde helping him with anything was less than zero.

"Fine, I'll ask him and then tell you the answer." Jackie told him after quickly realizing the problem, "Better?"

Eric smiled and nodded, "Much."

Jackie shook her head, so he couldn't see her smile. She wasn't quite through yet.

"And then whatever's left, we can wair until Angela come back." She went on, "She's coming back Friday morning."

"But I'm not gonna be here Friday morning, remember Jackie?" Eric reminded, frowning slightly, "I'm getting here after class, sometime late in the evening."

"Oh that's right!" Jackie said abit loudly, trying to make it seem like she had just remembered, "You're going back to Seattle. Today right?"

Eric nodded his head, "Yeah." He looked down at his watch, being sure to add those two extra hours "Shit, I'm leaving in a couple of hours and I don't even have my stuff together. It's all still in your room."

Jackie watched as the _Alice in Wonderland_ rabbit in Eric came back, putting him back in full motion as he handed her the carnations and then headed to her bedroom.

"Don't worry, Eric I already took care of it for you!" she called after him, once he was already infront of what used to be Laurie's room.

"You did?" he asked surprised while he turned around to see Jackie nod several feet away from him. He smiled slightly, maybe she wasn't entirely Satan's spawn.

"Um…Thanks Jackie." he said, as he opened her bedroom door anways. He stepped inside and started searching for his suitcases. "I'll just grab my bags and take them downstairs so when it's time for me to leave I can just…"

He stopped suddenly as he realized his bags weren't anywhere in this room

"Jackie," he said slowly, "where's my stuff?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out."

Her voice sounded so clear and so close. Eric carefully turned around to find Jackie standing right behind him, her arms crossed over her chest. The sight scarred Eric and caused him to jump back a few feet.

"Jackie what did you do with my bags?" he asked slightly afraid of the answer.

"I told you," Jackie said with a tilt of her head, "I took care of it."

Eric watched as her give him an evil like smirk and he realized he had been wrong before. She was Satan's spawn. And probably his favorite one.

"Jackie, just give me my bags." he said, trying to sounds as intimidating as possible, "I need them so I can go back to Seattle. I need to go back to work."

Jackie shook her head, "No you don't. You don't _need_ to do either of those things." She said, sounding much more intimidating than Eric had been trying sound, "You _need_ to be here with your mother. You_ need_ to spend some time with her. You don't _need_ to go back to work."

"I do if I want to get that _Teacher of the Year Award_." Eric reminded, "And uh yeah, I do!"

"So what you're saying is, you would rather have some foot tall trophy that'll gather dust on some shelf, than make a butload of memories with your mom that you can hold forever in your heart?"

Eric tried to not fall for this guilt trip. He had to stay strong, he couldn't stay here.

"Just tell me where my bags are." He told her calmly, "You won't have to get them, I'll do it."

"No." Jackie said shaking her head again, "I'm not going to give you your bags and I'm not gonna tell you where they are either. So I guess since you need them to leave and you don't have them…you're stuck here."

Eric's facial expression wasn't sure what to show more of. He was upset and angry at her for taking his things, hiding them and not giving them back. And at the same time he was shocked at how she must have planned this out. He was surprised to see just how evil this tiny young woman was.

"Jackie…you…you can't do this. This isn't fair. You took my things and hid them from me." Eric argued, trying not to raise his voice too much, "That's not right."

"Oh gee Eric, I'm sorry." She said in a mocking tone, "I'm still trying to figure out what you think is right and what you think isn't. Ok let's see, it's not right for me to take and hide your things from you, but it's ok if you leave your sick mother so you can win some stupid award."

Eric stared at Jackie in the eyes and saw the anger burning in her mismatched eyes. She was really mad at him. Just another person to add to the list.

"Ok, fine Jackie you win." Eric told her, lifting his hands in defeat and then heading for the exit, "Keep my bags, I'll buy another ticket at the airport. And you just did me a favor, because without my bags it'll be cheaper. Thanks Jackie, see you Friday."

Jackie watched Eric lifted up his left hand and give quick wave before exiting out of her room. She sighed, this isn't what was supposed to happen.

"Eric." She called from behind as she followed him down the stairs, but he never stopped.

"Eric, don't leave." She said once they were in the living room and heading towards the kitchen.

Once they were in the kitchen and closer to Eric's exit, Jackie still didn't give up.

"If you leave you'll regret it for the rest of your life." She told the back side of him as he headed for the glass sliding door, "Eric, you don't realize just how lucky you are."

Her last words got to him. She didn't know what the heck she was talking about. He stopped himself from opening the side door and swung himself back around to face her.

"No Jackie. You don't realize how lucky _you are_." Eric told her, pointing his index finger at her, "Your family's not close. Not like mine. If you were to go see them after such a long time, they wouldn't bombard you with questions, they wouldn't guilt you with anything. You wouldn't get this third degree treatment that I'm getting here. If you loose a family member, you guys aren't that close so the mourning doesn't last that long…that's not the same here. You're the lucky one."

Jackie shook her head, "Eric, you're one of the luckiest people I know. Especially when it comes to family."

"Jackie please," he almost groaned, he didn't want to hear it, "I'm so unlucky black cats freak out when I cross their paths."

Jackie had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep herself from laughing, after all this was really no laughing mater.

"Eric, you may have a skanky sister, but I don't have any siblings." She began, using her softer voice again, "You may have a 'hard-ass' dad, but my dad's in prison. Your mom may be sick, but I don't even know where mine is."

A feeling of shame washed of Eric. Compared to some people's lives he did have it pretty good. Then again to others, World War II was more appealing than his life.

"And now you've got this great opportunity, and you don't want to take advantage of it." Jackie went on, placing the carnations on the table between them.

"What wonderful opportunity is that, Jackie?" he asked, trying to sound harsh but not too harsh in his tone, "Watching my mom who was always moving around and so full of life, lay in a bed getting weaker and weaker until she's nothing but a memory?"

"No. You get the chance to tell your mom all the thing you want her to know." She explained gently, "You can make sure that her last days are some of her best ones. And yet you want to go to Seattle, to work." She shook her head, "I can't understand why."

"Because," Eric began, deciding it was time to tell someone how he felt about all this. He slid into his father's usual seat at the round table, "when I'm in Seattle and I think of Mom, I see her in here. Cooking, baking, singing, laughing. I come here and I see how she really is…it's easier if I'm in Seattle then I can think of her as happy and healthy…not like this."

Jackie carefully and slowly sat down beside him, in the next chair, Kitty's chair. She reached over and grabbed his left hand, giving it a small squeeze.

"Eric, it's good that you think of your mom when she was healthy and happier." She told him with a small smile that got the corners of Eric's mouth to twitch, "But you can't just block out her being sick like this. I know it's hard, but if you do that you're not just blocking the illness out, you're blocking your mom out too."

"You have to make the most of this time that you have left with her." Jackie continued, squeezing his hand every so often to emphasize her point.

"I want to Jackie, I do." Eric shared with the young woman sitting next to him, "But I don't know if I can."

"Of course you can, Eric. You're her son. Her _Baby Boy_." She teased slightly, to lighten the moment, "Yesterday when you went to see her…I haven't seen her smile that big since your dad left to the convention."

Eric smirked. He thought his mom did look pretty happy that day, but he didn't think it was just because of him. And he no idea that she hadn't been that happy in a while.

"Guess I actually did something good, huh?"

"Yeah." Jackie said with a smirk that quickly disappeared, "Until you ran off when she started with some pain."

Eric's smirk joined Jackie's in disappearing to somewhere unknown, "Oh…you heard about that."

Jackie nodded, "But as long as you don't do a dumbass thing like that again, you'll be ok. All that your mom really wants, what will really make her happy, is spending some time with you. Just sit with her, talk with her. About anything but her being sick, it helps her forget about it too."

"Jackie…" Eric started to say but the tiny brunette wasn't finished.

"If you don't want to do it for yourself." she paused, "Do it for her."

Eric looked at Jackie's face once again. This time though, it wasn't so scary, she wasn't so mad. The expression she was sending him, sort of told him that she believed that he could do this.

He cleared his throat and nodded, "Ok."

A smile sprung to Jackie's face, proud that part of her plan was working.

"Are you gonna give me back my stuff though?"

Jackie's smile grew when she heard Eric's question. Now it was time to work on the second part.

"I will." She nodded, "But under one condition. A condition Mom must never find out about."

Eric frowned, wondering what it could be, "Ok…"

"For each time you spend with Mom, I'll give you a little piece of your luggage." She began, "But I'm talking about real quality time moments, no faking _anything_."

"Um…I guess."

"And for every time you run off or pull some other dumbass stunt, I'm taking a piece back." Jackie added.

The truth was, that last part was just added now. And Jackie had a pretty good idea that after spending one or two quality moments with his mom to get some of his belongings back, Eric would forget all about the deal and continue spending time with his mom because he wanted to. Everybody won in the end. It was a perfect plan, and not just because she came up with it.

"Are we agreed?" she asked him sticking out her right hand.

Eric stuck out his left hand and clasped it to Jackie's. "Agreed."

"Good." Jackie smiled again and stood up from her seat, "I think we finished this little talk just in time for me to catch my movie."

Eric remained in his seat watching Jackie exit into the next room, enjoying his view until he realized what he was doing. His eyes became large when he caught and stopped himself. What was he doing checking out the devil? Maybe it was because of her bossiness, how she had take control and gotten him to do something she wanted him.

It had been like that with Donna and he'd found her _very_ attractive. Of course there was a difference. Donna usually got him to do things that would benefit her, Jackie was getting him to do something that would help him.

"Hey Jackie," Eric called after her, standing up and rushing into the living room where he found Jackie sitting on the sofa, remote already in her hand. Feeling slightly embarrassed he stopped his speediness and tried to act causal.

He crossed his arms over his chest, only to uncross them and stick his hands in his pocket. That last a good five seconds before he re-crossed them again.

"What movie are you gonna watch?"

Jackie stifled a laugh and answered him, "_Breakfast at Tiffany's_. It's one of my favorites."

"Oh." Eric raised his eyebrows just abit as he sat on the arm of the sofa farthest from Jackie, "Is that _Tiffany_ the store or the girl?"

"The store." Jackie responded.

"Seriously?" he asked surprised, he had asked that as a joke. He was sure that _Tiffany_ was a girl, "Well that explains why you like it so much. All those diamonds and stuff. Never thought about having breakfast in there though…"

Jackie frowned, "Eric, have you never seen _Breakfast at Tiffany's_? With Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard?"

"Well now that you mention it…." Eric quickly shook his head, "No. I mean I'm sure I've heard of it and maybe I've seen bits and parts of it, but never the whole thing."

Jackie nodded and they fell into a silence for quite a few seconds.

"Would you mind if I joined you?" He asked, hoping she'd say yes. That she hadn't already gotten a headache from him.

Jackie smiled, "Sure."

Eric's face broke out into a large grin, for some reason.

"But," she continued. There always seemed to be a but with this woman, "you better not be like Steven and hog all the popcorn."

Eric frowned, feeling confused, "Jackie, we don't have any popcorn."

"That's because you haven't made it." Jackie stated with a smile and a tilt of her head.

Eric quickly caught on; he knew what she was doing. If he wanted to watch the movie with her, he had to get the snacks. He could handle that.

"Ok." He nodded, "But I call the couch."

Jackie smiled, "Deal."

And then Eric left into the kitchen, hoping to find a microwavable bag of popcorn or at least a thing of _Jiffy Pop_, while Jackie moved of the couch and into Red's green armchair, switching the channel to the movie.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__And that is Chapter 12 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Now that Jackie's plan has been put into action will Donna still have a talk with Eric? How will Jackie's plan work out? Will Eric be able to spend time with his mom without freaking or running out? What will Hyde have to say about this? And when is Red coming home? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"!_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	14. Right Behind You, Buddy

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hi everyone! I know, I know I'm late. I'm so sorry but I lost my internet connection Sunday night and didn't get it back till today. The only place I could you the internet was at school but I forgot my USB. Very smart huh? Hope you guys aren't too mad, and if you are mad now hope you'll be happy after reading the chapter. It's a long one. But not too long! Couple of notes as always. I am so sorry for not updating yesterday, I really am. Thanks for all the reviews and support, I am so happy you guys are enjoying this fic! And finally I am not a doctor or anything else in the medical field. Though I did talk to a nurse today but it was about my grandma and was only for about five minutes. Anywoo enough with my jabbering, Enjoy!_

* * *

"_I'll be right back, Mom."_

_Kitty smiled, "Alright, Steven." _

_Hyde then stood up from his seat and placed the camera on the coffee table, purposely leaving it on. He left the room without telling Kitty that the camera was still on. _

_Hyde had left the camera running, facing Red so he could continue filming the older man sleep. He never expected to capture what was supposed to be a private conversation on tape._

_Kitty walked over to her husband's sleeping form, she nudged him slightly, "Red."_

_The soft tone she used, only caused him to stir for a few seconds. So she tried again._

"_Red."_

_This time she received no response. _

_She frowned, having enough, and decided to push him just a bit harder._

"_Red!" she called out louder, while shoving his shoulder a bit harder._

_Right away, Red jolted slightly as he woke up and tried to make it seem like he had been awake this whole time._

"_What? What?" he asked still sounding half asleep, "I'm awake. I was just resting my eyes."_

_Kitty placed her hands on her hips and looked at him disbelievingly, "For two hours?"_

_Red looked away from his wife for a few seconds. He hadn't realized it had been that long. He looked back up at Kitty and gave a smirk._

"_That explains why they feel so rested." Kitty shook her head disapprovingly and so Red decided to change the subject, "How's the video going?"_

"_It's going great." Kitty replied with a smile, "I think it's so wonderful that years from now our future great great great great grandchildren will be able to see and hear me talking about different things."_

_Red's smirk grew at his wife's excitement._

"_Red, honey you should have Steven help you make one too."_

"_I don't think so, Kitty." He said shaking his head abit, "I think I'll wait to see how yours turns out." _

"_Fine, but you never know how long you'll have left. Especially with that cranky clogged up heart of yours." Kitty reminded her husband, who simply rolled his eyes as she continued to ramble, "Which reminds me, did you take your blood pressure medication?"_

"_I'll take it later." Red said as he reached for the paper and began to open it up, only to be stopped by his wife's hand that kept the paper shut._

"_Red Forman, unless you want another heart attack you'll take that medicine."_

"_Kitty, we got rid of the foreign kid and the kettle head." Red began, "My heart is perfectly safe."_

_Kitty shook her head and began to protest, "Red…"_

"_Did you take_ your_ medicine yet?" Red interrupted, looking up at Kitty with an eyebrow slightly raised._

"_I…No." Kitty answered, suddenly realizing she hadn't. _

_Red smirked happily, knowing he'd gotten her this time. Now she'd go take her own medicine and he could read his paper in peace. Or so he thought._

_Kitty tilted her head to the side, just a bit, "I'll take mine when you take yours."_

_The smirk on Red's face vanished and he looked up at his wife to see her smile back at him. She knew _she_ had gotten _him_. Red sighed loudly before tossing the paper to the side and getting up from his chair._

"_You get the pills, I'll get the glasses of water." He instructed._

_Kitty giggled a small giggle and started following her husband to the kitchen; when unexpectedly he stopped infront of the swinging door and looked back at her._

"_Kitty, listen." Red started to say, trying to figure out the best way to word this, "Me and the two dumbasses appreciate you looking after us even while your going through…this…whole mess. But we want you to stop worrying about us and start taking care of you. Put yourself on the top of your list."_

"_Oh Red, you should know me better by now." She said pausing for a few seconds, "I always put myself towards the end of that list. And I always will. No matter what."_

_Red sighed a light sigh, "I know sweetheart."_

_He bent down and kissed the top of Kitty's head before she pushed open the kitchen door and they both disappeared behind it._

_~*~_

Brooke Kelso sat the kitchen table with her daughter as each colored in one of the many coloring books Betsy had brought from Chicago.

As she reached over and placed the green crayon in the stack of remaining twenty crayola crayons, she took a peak at Betsy's master piece. The little girl was busying herself coloring the picture of a bird, blue.

Brooke smiled at how hard Betsy was trying to stay inside the lines. Of course half that smile was also thanks to the fact that Betsy was now distracted and not asking for something to eat. It was getting closer to the time that they had dinner when they were in Chicago, but Donna and Randy hadn't been seen in almost an hour.

"That's a very pretty birdie, Betsy."

"Thank you, Mommy." Betsy replied as she flashed her father's smile that her mother had to grin at.

"Hey Brooke." A new voice called out, causing Brooke to turn her head towards the basement and find Steven Hyde.

Brooke smiled, "Hi Hyde."

"Hi Uncle Hyde!" Betsy shouted never looking up from her picture.

"Hey kid." Hyde greeted the young child before turning his attention to her mother, "I just thought you should know Kelso and Fez are waiting for you to go down to the basement."

"Could you tell them I'll be down there in awhile?" she asked him.

Hyde shrugged, "I could, but I don't know if they'd hear me."

"What do you mean?" the young mother asked, "What did they do this time."

"Nothing. Just locked themselves into the washer and dryer." Hyde explained and Brooke showed a face of complete astonishment, she tried to ask questions but she was too shocked.

Hyde held back a laugh as he watched his friend's wife struggle for her words, "I don't know how they did it, but I do know why." He told her, having a good feeling about what questions she wanted to ask, "Scooby-Doo went on commercial."

Brooke shook her head and began to slowly shake her head. Those two did crazier things than any of the kids from Betsy's school. That's including the second grader who climbed the top the one of the bookcases last month.

"I…"she shook her head, "Will you watch Betsy while I go down there?"

"Yeah, sure." Hyde nodded.

Brooke said a quick thank you to the curly haired man before telling her daughter she would be right back. Once she said what she needed to, Brooke headed to the basement wondering who was in what.

After Brooke had left the room, Hyde grabbed a bag of chips and tossed them on the table. He then took a seat and began to munch of the chips—getting his goddaughter's attention right away.

"Mommy said no snacks 'fore dinner." Betsy pointed out.

Hyde stopped his hand from dropping another chip into his mouth, to look at the little girl.

"That's true," he nodded, only because he didn't want to tell Betsy her mother was wrong, and then shrugged his shoulder, "but I'm hungry."

""I'm hungry too!"

"Ok, then have a chip." He said offering her the bag.

Betsy scrunched up her nose, "I don't wan chips."

"Then what do you want?" Hyde asked as he continued to eat his snack.

He was actually pretty happy that she had declined his offer of chips. This was the last bag of chips that they had in the house that hadn't gone stale.

"Ummm…." Betsy thought about her options as she scanned her eyes around the room. Suddenly she found something very appetizing, "Cake!"

Hyde frowned. Cake? Who had made a cake? Kitty hadn't baked a cake since before Red left, and that thing had only lasted three days. He looked over at the counter and saw the small coffee cake someone had bought from the store.

"Sorry Bets, I really don't think your mom lets you have cake before dinner." He began to say, "Try again."

"Ice cream!" she shouted.

Hyde smirked and shook his head, "I don't think so. Let's go back to the cake one."

"Ok." Betsy nodded, "I wan cake."

Just as Hyde opened his mouth to respond to the little girl's words the telephone started to ring.

"Hang on a sec, Bets." He said before sluggishly making his way to the yellow phone. "Hello?"

"Steven."

"Oh hey Red." Hyde greeted instantly recognizing his surrogate father's voice.

Before he began speaking again, Hyde remembered that he wasn't alone in the room. He looked back at the table to find that Betsy had gone back to coloring. Though she was probably entertained by that and wouldn't care what he was talking about, she was a Kelso and Hyde couldn't take the chance.

"Um can you hold on a minute Red?" he asked into the phone.

"Make it quick." Red ordered on the other line as he stood in his hotel room in New York, "I'm calling collect."

Hyde didn't bother responding to what Red had said, instead he placed the receiver against his chest and called out Betsy's name before waving her over.

"Uh Betsy why don't you go with your Aunt Jackie?" Hyde suggested once Betsy was at his side, "Do you know where she is?"

Betsy nodded, "She's in the living room."

"Ok, let's take you in there then, ok?" he said already pushing his goddaughter in the next room, "I'm sure she's…"

Hyde's train of thought was suddenly lost a he pushed open the swinging door and saw the scene taking place in the living room. Betsy was right Jackie was in there but what the first grader had failed to mention was that Eric was in there too.

The sight came as a shock to Hyde. Both Jackie and Eric were in the same room watching TV, smiling, snot arguing or calling each other names and pretty much looking like they were enjoying each other's company.

"Is she watching a movie with Forman?" Hyde asked in a whisper.

Betsy nodded, "Yup."

"Why?"

"I don't know." She replied with a shrug.

Hyde shook his head, he was wasting time with this. He gently pulled Betsy back into the kitchen with him.

"Ok, stay here and just be quiet, alright?"

Again Betsy nodded and then skipped her way over to table and back to her coloring book. Hyde felt relieved that she didn't put up a fight—maybe kids weren't too bad. He quickly remembered Red was still on the line.

He placed the receiver back to his ear and started to talk, "Hey Red, sorry about that."

"Who were you talking to?"

"No one. It was the uh…TV." Hyde lied not wanting to go into detail about the guest at the house, "So what's the plan?"

Red took a deep breath before beginning, "Well the next flight over there is tomorrow at noon. I've already got the ticket and I'm just about done with the packing. I'll ned you or Jackie to come pick me up at the airport though. At three thirty."

"That's the time your flight gets in?"

"No." Red answered with a scowl, "My plane get in at four but I don't want to be waiting in the damn airport all day. Got it?"

"Got it." Hyde repeated.

"And if Kitty asks just tell her the convention was boring and full of a bunch of dumbasses." Red went on, "But only if she asks. If she doesn't, don't say anything. It'll give me more time to work on my story."

"Alright." Hyde nodded.

""How's she doing?" Red asked after a short pause.

"She's uh…she's ok." Hyde replied, "She's asleep right now. She'd been sleeping a lot."

"That's good." He nodded understandingly for a few seconds before suddenly stopping, "Right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Angie said it was mostly because of the medicine Mom's on. She actually came over today and put Mom on this new machine medicine thing. She said something about the medication being pretty strong and knocking her out. But at the same time it's helping with the pain. So pretty much if she's sleeping she's not in too much pain." Hyde informed and though Red knew he couldn't see him he nodded along.

""Did you tell Kitty about you talking to me earlier?" Red asked.

Hyde was silent for a few seconds. He could hear the faint bit of hopefulness in Red's voice. He guessed that he really wanted to talk to her.

"Um no…I didn't want to upset her." He told him, "But if you want I can tell her now and you…"

"No, no." Red interrupted, "You said she was asleep. She needs her rest. I'll see her tomorrow."

"Alright." Hyde nodded.

Silence soon took over on both ends of the line. Hyde knew Red would soon want to hang up if the silence continued, but he wanted to let him know one more thing before he got here tomorrow.

"Uh Red," he started, having abit of a hard time, "Mom's been telling us not to bother you at the convention and all, but she really does want you here."

Red nodded, "I know Steven. And if I could, I'd be there in the next five minutes."

This time it was Hyde's turn to node as he noticed another difference between Red and his son.

From the first time he called Red and told him what was going on Red had already started getting ready to come back home. When he'd called Eric, he said he couldn't come home. How Jackie did it, he still didn't know.

"Alright, well then I 'll see you tomorrow Steven." Red began with the goodbyes.

"Right. At four o'clock right?" Hyde asked with a smirk.

Red scowled, "Three thirty."

"I know Red, I know. Bye." Hyde said before moving the phone back to it's stand.

"Was that Granpa Red?"

The little voice surprised Hyde just abit, he'd forgotten that Betsy was in the room. He probably should have been a little more secretive. Too late now.

"Um yeah it was Bets." He nodded walking back to the table, "But don't say anything ok? It's a surprise."

"For Grandma Kitty?" Betsy asked.

"Sure." Her godfather smirked, "But don't tell anyone else either, cause they might tell her ok? It'll just be a secret between you, me, and Grandpa Red, alright?"

Betsy frowned slightly, "Mommy said it not good to have secrets."

"But it's not really a secret." Hyde began, "It's a surprise. And it's only for a day. You think you can do it?"

"Maybe." She said tilting her head abit, "I tink I need something to help me."

Hyde furrowed his brow, "What?"

"Cake!"

"You are your father's daughter." Hyde said with a shake of his head before walking over to the counter to cut two small pieces of the store bought cake.

~*~

"See aren't you glad you saw the movie?" Jackie asked as she walked into the kitchen, Eric not too far behind her.

"Yeah, I guess I can see why they call it a classic." Eric nodded, "But that Holly was kind of stubborn and liked to have things her way or no way."

Jackie frowned, "No she didn't."

"Jackie come on, she called Paul, "Fred." That's not even close to Paul." Eric argued before he shrugged his shoulders and smiled slightly, "I knew you were gonna stick up for her."

"How did you know?" the petite brunette asked cautiously.

"Cause you're Holly."

At first Jackie was shocked but slowly she started to grow on the idea. She smiled back at Eric and nodded.

"Ok, you say I'm Holly." She nodded before her smiled turned just a bit more mischievous, "I say you're Cat."

Eric's face fell, "What? No, at least give me some one human." He told her, but she just shook her head—an action he just ignored, "I know I'll be _Paul_."

"You can't be Paul." Jackie said with a shake of her head.

Eric looked at her slightly confused, "Why not?"

"Because." she said the word in a tone that showed how obvious she thought it was.

Eric held his breath, hoping she wouldn't say what she thought she would. Not that he really cared, but it would sound pretty harsh if she said "Because Paul and Holly end up together."

"His name is 'Fred'." Jackie finished with a smirk.

All of a sudden, the kitchen became quiet.

She didn't say it! Eric was really surprised to hear those words come out of her mouth and not the others that he was expecting. Did this mean something? Did Jackie think they could end up together in the end? Nah. She probably just got nicer. Nah that couldn't be it either. Maybe she just missed that opportunity to burn him.

At the same time that those thoughts were going through Eric head, Jackie's head was filled with her own. She had said the Fred line to annoy Eric at the fact that Holly called Paul "Fred." It wasn't until after she had said it that she realized she could and should've said something about Holly and Paul being in love at the end. Why hadn't she?

"So did you like the movie?" Jackie asked, breaking the silence and deciding she'd think about that later.

"Oh uh yeah, yeah." He nodded, "Let me know when _Lunch at Macy's_ is on and I'll give that one a shot."

Jackie laughed a bit at Eric's joke before a few more occupants came into the room.

"Who had lunch with Pam Macy?" Fez asked as he entered from the basement, Betsy riding his back.

"Not me, I promise!" Kelso quickly said as he put his hands up to defend himself from his wife, "But I do kinda wonder what she looks like now…"

Kelso then drifted off as he thought about his once…his…uh…about Pam Macy. Brooke watched him with a small glare that could easily grow into a bigger one. Jackie noticed the tension and decided to get them off the topic.

"No one was talking about that whore." She said, covering Betsy's little ears at the last word, "We were talking about _Breakfast at Tiffany's_. Eric and I just finished watching it."

"Oh I love that movie." Brooke gushed, "It's so romantic, too bad there's not romantic stuff like that in real life."

Kelso turned to his wife wide-eyed, he raised up his hands and waved them a bit, "Um hello!"

"Hi." Brooke replied with a tiny wave, still bothered by the fact that Kelso had been day-dreaming about an old flame.

"I'm damn romantic!" the tall man protested, "Remember I brought you that bracelet the other day? As a 'just because' present. I didn't even do anything wrong!"

Brooke's smile started to reappear and Jackie and Fez awed at Kelso's story. Fez louder than Jackie.

"Really Kelso? That is pretty romantic of you." Eric stated.

"It was." Brooke nodded, "Too bad he got it from a police auction."

Three deep glares were sent over to Kelso who had been grinning proudly. However when he saw the frowns on his friend's face, he became a bit confused.

"What?!" he asked loudly, "It was just from a stolen car that was being driven by some guy who murdered some people."

Jackie and Eric together looked over at Brooke, who just nodded her head.

"I want a dress like Audrey Hepburn's in that movie." Fez said a bit dreamy eyes, "I think I would look very sexy in one."

Eric stifled a laugh and patted Fez's shoulder that didn't have a little girl hanging onto it. "Maybe for Christmas, Fez."

Fez grinned happily as he walked over to the table to drop Betsy off on a chair. Meanwhile the four other's in the room were exchanging looks, silently debating on whether or not to get Fez a black sexy dress for Christmas.

"Pizza guy's here!" a voice called out as the glass door slid open.

The group turned to look and saw Randy walking into the kitchen with two boxes of Pizza in his arms. Donna soon came in from behind, carrying two more boxes.

"The Pizza girl too." She said to her fiancé, her feminism side coming out once more.

"Where?!" Fez quickly asked.

He then dashed over to the glass door and scanning his eyes around the driveway looking for a pizza girl in short shorts, a tight t-shirt, a cap, and most importantly a pizza. Instead he saw a stray cat walk across the pavement.

Fez looked back at Donna with a deep scowl, "I do not see a pizza girl!"

"I meant me, Fez." The blonde explained.

The foreign man's face fell with disappointment, "Oh."

Donna glared as she watched her friend sulkily drop himself into a seat beside Betsy.

"Don't worry Babe," Randy told her, moving his arm around her waste, "You can deliver my pizza any time."

Donna frowned at Randy with a small smile also attached. She wasn't sure what to do. Get mad at him for making a somewhat sexist comment or give him a smile for making her feel better. In the end, she went with the smile never noticing that her ex-boyfriend was looking on.

Unlike Donna, Jackie did notice Eric. She saw his slightly hurt expression as he watched them and he saw him try to forget about what he had just seen by looking down at his feet.

While everyone else started helping them themselves to a few slices, Jackie decided to pull Eric aside.

"Eric, could you help me get the paper plates?"

Eric nodded before walking over to where Jackie was standing by the kitchen window near the fridge. He frowned when he saw she already had the stack of paper plates out and ready to be given out. What did she call him for then?

"Are you ok?" she asked him, concern heard in her voice.

"Yeah, sure." Eric nodded, "Why do you ask?"

Jackie shrugged, "I don't know, you just got quiet when Donna and Randy walked in. I didn't know if…"

"I'm fine Jackie." Eric interrupted, "Really. See?"

He then proceeded to smile a big toothy grin in hopes of getting Jackie to believe him. Jackie watched him carefully fro a few seconds before shaking her head.

"Yeah, don't show too much teeth."

"Got it." Eric nodded, and then minimized the amount of teeth showing in his smile.

That earned him a smile from her, "Better."

Eric nodded again before he walked off to the table and joined his friends to get some pizza; just missing Donna as she walked over to where he was just standing with Jackie.

"Hey Jackie," Donna began getting her friends attention right away, "I didn't get the chance to talk to Eric about him staying, but I guess he changed his mind if he's still here. Do you still want me to talk to him?"

Jackie shook her head, "Oh no Donna, it's ok. I talked to him. And I set the plan into action. Everything's fine now."

Donna knitted her brows together as she watched Jackie make her way to the where the others were. Did Jackie just say she had talked to Eric? That was supposed to be her job. Jackie was only going to work on her plan and she was gonna talk to Eric. Now Jackie did both? What the hell?

"Hey where's Hyde?" Kelso asked, his mouth full of pizza.

Jackie looked around "I don't know. He's probably upstairs with Mom. _Steven!_"

"I'm right here, Jackie. Geeze." Hyde groaned as he rubbed his ears.

"Pizza's here." She told him, "Aren't you gonna eat?"

"Uh yeah. Fez, could you get me a couple of pieces?" Hyde asked the foreign man who was ready to protest until he went on.

"Mom's not feeling too good so I'm gonna eat up there." Hyde continued as he went to one of the cabinets and pulled out a few small orange bottles. "And I think we should switch nights, Jackie."

Jackie looked over at Eric who had looked back at her. He was gonna stay with Kitty tonight. Since it was Jackie's night they were gonna switch places so Eric could spend some time with his mom and Jackie could sleep in her own room.

"Steven, it's my night though. You stayed with Mom last night." Jackie said in a firm voice.

"Yeah, but she's pretty sick right now." Hyde explained "I don't know if you can handle it."

Jackie frowned, she hated when he did this.

"Steven, I was here today when Angela was here. I've been here since Mom got sick. I've been helping take care of her since then. I'm pretty sure I can _handle this_."

"Jackie…"

"Hey I've got an idea." Randy spoke up from his seat at the table, grabbing everyone's interest. "Why don't we take shifts taking care of Mrs. Forman. Kinda like if she was at a hospital."

"She's not at a hospital." Hyde muttered with a frown.

Donna was among everyone else, wearing a frown on her face, but when she really started to think about it, Randy did have a point.

She nodded, "I think Randy might be right."

Apparently she was the only one though. Both Hyde and Jackie looked pretty annoyed at the suggestion. Eric wasn't paying too much attention to the couple; his concern was on Hyde not wanting to leave his Mom. As for everyone else they sat silently eating their food, until one of them spoke up.

"Actually, it might be a good idea." Brooke began as looked over at Hyde and Jackie, "You guys could get some more rest and we'd all be able to spend some more time with Mrs. Forman."

Jackie was quick to catch on to the message that Brooke was sending her. If they took the shifts, Eric would have some time to spend with Kitty without having to sneak him past Hyde.

"Ok, yeah. It could be two of us for each shift." Jackie said before she started to organize the whole thing, "Donna you and Randy could go together. Brooke you and Michael, because there's no way he's being partnered up with Fez."

"Aww!" both grown men cried, clearly disappointed.

"Fez, you can go with Hyde."

"I do not want to go with Hyde. He is always so grumpy." Fez argued and then remembered Hyde was in the room, waiting for his pizza. Slowly and carefully, Fez walked to the Zen master and handed him the plate of Pizza, "Here you go."

Jackie ignored Fez as he took his seat back at the table, "And then Eric and I will…"

"Wait a minute." Hyde interrupted, "Forman's gonna be in on this too?"

While Eric avoided his brothers eyes, Jackie was quick to defend him.

"She's his mother."

"I know that, Jackie." Hyde replied and then turned his attention to Eric, "I thought you were leaving tonight."

Eric froze, he didn't know Hyde knew. And by the looks of everyone else, they didn't either.

"Um I decided not to go." He answered in a somewhat shaky voice, but did look up at Hyde.

Jackie crossed her arms and took over, "He's staying for Mom."

"Yeah, but for how long?" Hyde scoffed abit.

"As long as he wants to…"

"Exactly." Hyde said, starting to loose his Zen, "I don't wanna take the chance of him leaving while he's supposed to be taking care of Mom."

"Steven…" Jackie started to protest only to be cut off.

"No Jackie, just forget it ok. You can forget about this whole shift thing too, alright?" Hyde ordered more than suggested, "I'm staying with Mom tonight, and you can stay…some other night."

Hyde turned himself around and with Kitty medicine in one hand and his plate in the other, he headed out of the kitchen. Everyone watched him exit, no one daring to say a word. Suddenly he turned right back around to face the soundless group.

"Oh and by the way, Red's coming home tomorrow."

And the he was gone leaving his friends not only speechless but pretty scared too.

Fez looked around nervously, "Did he say Red is coming home?"

"Tomorrow?" Kelso questioned in a similar tone.

"Aye, I am going back to Chicago." Fez announced to everyone before darting out to the driveway.

Kelso jumped out of his seat, "Right behind you, buddy!"

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__There you are my friends, Chapter 13 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Who told Hyde about Eric's plan to leave? Why didn't Jackie say something about Holly and Paul ending up together? Will Donna still talk to Eric, even though Jackie told she didn't have to? What will happen when Red comes home? And are Fez and Kelso really going back to Chicago? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	15. Jackie, Get Out

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing, nothing, and nothing._

_**Author's Note: **__Hello All! I know I'm late again and ugh it's for a really dumb reason this time. And I am so sorry for it. See last night I was gonna work on the end of the chapter but I fell asleep. Can you believe that it was only 12:30. I woke up kicking myself, but then I figured I'd work on it in the morning since i have the day off. Well that would've worked out if I had gotten out of bed and not stayed in it watching old Lucy reruns. Yup I fell asleep again. I am so sorry for my tardiness and this week of no school will be used to work on fics only…well and a few other stuff got get ready for the concert I'm going to the weekend, The king of country George Strait! Whoa!! But I'm rambling. Just wanted to say thanks for the reviews and for continuing to read this story, I am so glad you guys are enjoying it. Remember I'm not a doctor, but I have decided to study something in the medical field. Thanks again and sorry for the lateness, I'll be back on track soon! I hope. Enjoy!_

* * *

_Hyde quickly came up with the next question for his adoptive mother, "Out of all us kids, who's your favorite?"_

"_Steven, you know I don't have a favorite." Kitty answered with a smile as she shook her head just a bit, "I love all of you the same amount."_

"_I don't have a favorite either, but not for the same reason." Red commented from his chair._

"_Come on Mom, you've gotta have a favorite." Hyde said moving the camera away from Red and back to Kitty, "Just say who it is."_

"_Steven I do not have a favorite." She told him in a firm voice._

"_Ok, ok, fine." The camera man paused for a few seconds, "What if I guess?"_

"_Steven…"_

"_Alright let's see…" Hyde began to think, "It can't be Randy cause no one but Donna likes him. You haven't known Brooke as long as the rest of us."_

_Kitty remained silent as she watched her surrogate son try to figure out which one of her children she loved the most._

"_It's not Fez or Kelso, cause they get on everyone's nerves. You and Donna never really saw eye to eye." Hyde went on, "And it's not Laurie cause she's well Laurie."_

_As Hyde continued to ramble on, Kitty shook her head. He would never figure out who was her favorite child, because she didn't know who her favorite was. She didn't have a favorite! _

"_It can't be Jackie either. She's already Red's favorite…."_

"_Wait who says the Loud One is my favorite?" Red asked with a frown._

_Hyde turned the camera over to Red before he started to explain, "Red, come on man, we all know she's' your favorite. It's kinda a tie between her and Laurie; but since we haven't seen Laurie in like six years the title pretty much goes to Jackie."_

_Red continued to scowl as he heard Hyde's explanation. He took a few seconds to review the points made and then his expression softened a little._

"_Well the girl does know her way around a car." He frown soon reappeared, not wanting his soft side to be caught on film, "But she's talks too much."_

_Shaking his head slightly, Hyde moved the video camera back to film Kitty._

"_So that leaves me and Eric." He stated, "Which is it?"_

_Kitty titled her head to the right and slowly began to shake it, "Steven, I can't choose between the two of you. I can't choose between any of you." She took a deep breath, "I love you all for many reasons."_

"_I lo…well I like Randy because he makes Donna happy. I love Brooke because she gave me my first grand-basement baby." Kitty went on with a smile, "I love Fez because he says the nicest things to me, when I can understand them And Michael can always make me smile which is why I love him."_

"_Donna and I didn't always get along but I do love her. She's helped Eric and taught him so many things about life that me and Red wouldn't be able to. And Laurie is my daughter, my first born child. She'll always hold a special place in my heart."_

"_Now onto the final three." Hyde reported._

_Kitty's smile grew, "I love Jackie like another daughter. She is just a wonderful girl who is so full of surprises. I would've never guessed that the young girl who refused to touch an egg would be helping us the way she is now."_

"_Steven, I love you for many reasons. You truly are our second son. And the way you've been here for me and Red through all this, I…I couldn't ask for more."_

_Kitty smiled as she watched the camera man turn a light shade of pink, before she went on to the last person on her list._

"_And Eric." Her smile grew, "Eric's my little baby boy. I'll love him no matter what."_

"_So you see, I love you all equally," she paused, "But it's almost impossible to love you all for the same reasons."_

_~*~_

Hyde pushed open the Forman's bedroom door and walked inside. He had to frown a bit when he saw that the bed was empty. However when he saw that the door to the bathroom was shut, he understood.

He placed the bottles of pills on the night stand and then his pizza right new to it, before he walked over to the shut door.

"Do you need any help in there?" he asked after knocking.

"No Steven." Kitty's muffled voice answered after a several seconds, "I'll…I'll be right out."

Hyde nodded before he took a seat in the armchair by the bed. He knew that despite the fact that Kitty said she'd be right out, it would be several minutes before she'd come out. She might even end up calling him for help soon.

Sure enough there were few minutes of obscure noises before the bathroom door reopened. Only two or three not as long as Hyde had guessed and he wasn't called in for any assistance.

"Hi." He greeted with a small smile.

"Hi." Kitty replied weakly.

"You need help getting to the bed?" Hyde asked already on his feet.

He was ready to argue with her and insist that he help her make her way to the bed, but didn't have to. Kitty closed her eyes and nodded her head. Soon Hyde was at her side helping her take the few steps, while making sure not to interferer with the wires that connected her to the machine he also helped push along.

"Thank you, Steven." She said softly after Hyde had helped her onto the mattress and under the covers.

"No problem." He reassured as she reached over and grabbed the pills he had taken out while he was waiting, "Here, I brought you your medicine."

Kitty nodded before dropping the tablets into her mouth and then accepting the glass of water Hyde handed to her.

"Is that pizza?" she asked frowning slightly as she caught a glimpse of the paper plate.

"Uh yeah. Do you want me to go get you a piece?"

"No, honey, thank you." Kitty answered shaking her head "I don't think I can hold anything down right now."

Hyde nodded, "Ok, well how about some TV?"

Not waiting for a response, Hyde reached over and grabbed the remote control. He slowly flipped through the channels, hoping to find something entertaining on. After a few more channels, he found the opening of an opening of an old movie.

"Hey look it's good ol' Carry Grant." Hyde said to Kitty, knowing she had a thing for the British-American actor.

But unlike the times before when she's tell him to leave it here or even take the control our of his hands to insure that he wouldn't change it; Kitty just smiled as she kept her eyes closed.

Hyde grabbed the plate of pizza and got comfortable in his seat. He left the channel on "An Affair to Remember" it was one of her favorite of Grant's movies. He had a suspicion that she'd be watching the film soon.

After a few minutes of nothing but the voices from the movie speaking, Hyde looked over to the bed and saw that Kitty still had her eyes closed. He figured she had fallen asleep so he grabbed the remote again and changed the channel. He wasn't much of a old movie type of guy.

"Did Eric leave already?"

Surprised by her question, Hyde forgot about his food and turned his attention to the woman in the bed beside him. Kitty had opened her eyes back up and was looking straight at him.

"Um," he struggled not sure if he should tell her the truth, "Um no. He's still here."

Kitty smiled, "Good, then I still have a chance to say bye to him."

"Maybe." Hyde said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"What do you mean 'maybe?'" Kitty asked, her smile gone and a frown taking it's place, "He is still here isn't he?"

"Well yeah, but I just don't know if he's gonna get the chance to see you before he leaves." He explained, "I don't want you to get your hopes up too high."

"Steven, what is going on between you and Eric?"

"Nothing." Hyde said in his Zen mode that would have fooled anyone but his mother.

Kitty shook her head, "Steven, don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying, Mom." He protested as he avoided her eyes and hoped that his shades hid that fact, "There's nothing going on."

"Really?" Kitty asked unconvinced as she lifted an eyebrow and Hyde nodded, "Then why is that whenever someone was in here visiting with me, you were close by, either in the room or sticking your head into the room every five minutes; but when Eric was in here, you were never here?"

Hyde shrugged, "I didn't know he was with you."

Though Kitty believed him this time, she could tell he was telling the truth, Hyde's answer still didn't satisfy her.

"And why didn't you know he was with me?" she questioned.

"Because…" he sighed and looked down at his feet, "Jackie snuck him up here to see you."

Now Kitty knew something was wrong between her two boys.

"Why did Jackie have to sneak Eric up here?"

"Because I didn't want him to see you." He told her, placing his head in his hand with his elbow propped up on the arm of the chair. Kitty opened her mouth to ask another question but Hyde continued to speak. "I didn't want him to see you before I could warn you."

Kitty frowned slightly, "Warn me about seeing my own son?"

"Yeah." Hyde nodded before noticing how dumb that sounded, "Mom you know the way he's been with this whole cancer stuff. He can't handle it. And I didn't want him going to see you then getting you excited about him staying for awhile only to leave the next day." He explained, "Which he practically did with him running out of the room and then the 'two days' deal you told me about."

Kitty shook her head, silently regretting ever telling him about it.

"Steven," she began but Hyde wasn't quite through.

"Red…"Hyde stopped himself as remembered Kitty wasn't supposed to know he'd talked to Red. So pointing out that Red had told him to make sure she was comfortable and happy was out of the question. Thinking quickly he came up with something else.

"Red's gonna be coming home soon and he sees Eric…it's not gonna be pretty." He said, "I think we should be worried about that."

"I'm not worried about how Red's going to react towards Eric." Kitty began, "We've been married for thirty years, and in those thirty years he has gotten his way maybe two three times. I am not worried about Red and Eric." She repeated, "I'm worried about you and Eric."

"You two have been friends since you were six years old. The two of you always behaved like brothers for the longest tome." Kitty went on, "In fact as much as you thank Red and me—maybe not out loud but silently—for taking you in when your mother left, most of the credit belongs to Eric. He was the one who was so concerned he told us what was going on."

"Huh." Hyde responded as he thought over Kitty's words.

It had been awhile since Hyde had stopped to think about how he'd become part of this family. How it had been Eric who had been concerned and brought him something to eat or asked Red if he could stay for dinner…

Hyde shook his head, "But that doesn't have anything to do with what going on now, Mom." He started, "He hasn't seen you in months and now that he's here he's thinking about work and wanting to go back, instead of being with you."

"Steven, I appreciate you looking out for me, I do. And I have missed Eric these past few months, I am disappointed that he's leaving so soon." Kitty began, "But I am so glad I got to see him for a few minutes. Those few minutes are so much better than not seeing him at all."

Looking down again, Hyde nodded.

"When I'm gone, I don't want to have to constantly be watching over the two of you to make sure you don't kill each other."

Hyde smirked as he heard the words and looked back up, "I think it'd be me who killed him. Have you seen they guy throw a punch?"

"Steven" his adoptive mother warned.

"I know," Hyde said erasing the smirk form his face, "I know."

"You know what you have to do?" she asked making sure.

"Yeah." He said with a sigh, "I gotta talk to Forman."

Kitty smiled. "Good. Now change it back to my Cary."

Hyde smirked as he grabbed the remote and switched the television to the previous channel and got comfortable. He'd talk to Eric later, right now he wanted to spend some more valuable time with Kitty.

~*~

Brooke and Jackie with the help of little Betsy explained to Fez and Kelso that Red wouldn't kill them because they had come to see Kitty and Kitty's happiness was one of the important things to him, and that managed to stop the two from running their way back to Chicago.

That was almost fifteen minutes ago, and since then everyone had gone down to the basement. Well except for Jackie who was picking up the take-out trash in the kitchen and Eric who hadn't seemed to move since Hyde delivered the news.

Jackie walked inside from the driveway after throwing out the pizza boxes and saw that Eric was still seated at the table.

"Eric?" she called as she sat down in the chair beside him.

"Yeah?" he asked not moving anything but his mouth.

Jackie breathed a sigh of relief, "Good you can talk. I was worried you'd gone into some kinda weird shock thing."

"No I'm fine." Eric assured looking over at her, "I just can't feel my legs."

Jackie giggled just abit, knowing he was just joking, "So you excited to see your dad?"

"Oh yeah." He nodded with enthusiasm, "I can't wait for him to threaten me with a foot in the ass."

"It won't be so bad, Eric."

Eric frowned, "You do know who we're talking about, right?"

"Yes." Jackie answered with a roll of her eyes, "And I also know that your dad is a good man. He really is sweet and caring and I think he's gonna be happy to see you."

Eric's brows knitted closer together, "Red Forman, right? The angry bald guy who owns this house?"

"You really shouldn't be so hard on your dad." Jackie told him.

"Right, because he was_ never_ that way with me."

Jackie didn't like the sarcastic tone Eric was using, and she frowned her own frown as she answered him.

"Your dad's a really good dad, Eric."

"You're just saying that because he likes you." Eric replied in a teasing tone.

And though Jackie could easily hear the tone and it was true that Red did like her—she was his favorite—Eric had to realize how good he had it. How great his parents really were compared to some many others.

She took in a deep breath, "Eric I want you to think back, and try to think of the most recent, fondest moment you've had with your dad."

"One that doesn't include him calling me a dumbass?" he asked.

Jackie shrugged, "If you think that's what helps make it a nice moment, then yeah."

"The day I was born." Eric answered, "Pretty sure that was the only day he didn't call me that. Maybe the day after too but I'm not a hundred percent."

Eric smiled as he own joke, but when he saw the deep scowl on Jackie's face he realized he'd made a mistake.

"I'm serious, Eric." She told him in a very stern tone of voice.

Eric nodded, "Um ok, ok. Give me a second."

He then proceeded to rack his brain and try to remember having a father-son moment with his dad. And it had to be recent. That was pretty difficult since he hadn't really spent in close quality time with his father in…well forever.

It took him several minutes but finally he had remembered something.

"Ok, I got it." He said grabbing Jackie attention, "After I came back from Africa and was still living here, I was up late because I wasn't use to the whole time change…"

"You aren't good with any time change." Jackie commented an Eric smiled.

"Yeah, I guess so. But anyways, I was awake and sitting in the kitchen when Red came in. I thought he was gonna kill me for being up so late or at least wake up the rest of the house with some yelling." Eric shared his story with Jackie.

"But he didn't. Instead he grabbed two beers out of the fridge and we sat at the table, drinking the beer, and talking. I talked about Africa and he talked about when he was in the war." He smiled slightly, "It was pretty nice."

Jackie smiled, "See, he is a good dad."

Eric shrugged, and then remembered something, "But he did still call me a dumbass that night!" he added pointing his finger in the air.

"You wanna know the most recent fondest moment I had with my dad?" Jackie asked tilting her head.

Eric looked down at his watch, "Let's see, add two hours…" He mumbled to himself before looking up at Jackie, "Yeah, why not I've got time."

Jackie shook her head, hiding her smile as she playfully slapped his arm; before she turned serious for a moment.

"Ok, well we were having dinner together at the dinning room table, and it was a really rare thing especially since it wasn't a holiday." She began, "Daddy was pretty quiet and was looking over some work stuff and I was talking away…"

"Don't you always?" Eric asked jokingly earning him another hit.

"I was talking to try and get him to start a conversation with me, but he never did." Jackie said sadly, "He just mumbled a few 'That's nice.' 'Great sweetheart.' And then when he finished eating, he stood up, kissed the top of my head and left to his office."

Eric frowned, "That's your most recent fondest moment with your dad?"

"It was the last dinner we had together before he went to jail."

"Wow." Eric said in shock, "Who would've guessed that Red Forman would have the most qualifications for Father of the Year?"

"I did." Jackie replied with a smile.

"You just know everything don't you?" he asked smiling slightly.

"Yup." She said her smile growing, "I also know that you're gonna be seeing your Mom real soon."

Eric's smile fell as he started back at the tiny brunette, "Yeah you know nothing." He told her in a serious tone. "There's no way Hyde's gonna let me in there now that he knows I was gonna leave today."

Jackie shook her head, "Eric, you've known Steven for a long time. You should know him better."

"I do know him better." Eric replied, "I know how Zen he acts, I know he's set in his stubborn ways, and I know he's acting pretty childish with this whole thing, and I know he's not gonna let me see Mom for a long time."

Eric waited for Jackie to say something about his words, but her mouth never opened. She just looked straight ahead and slightly to the right. And Eric had a good feeling about what she was looking at.

"He's standing right behind me, isn't he?"

Slowly Jackie nodded. Eric closed his eyes before turning himself around in the chair and then reopening them to the sight of Steven Hyde standing by the swinging kitchen door, looking very Zen. Not a good sign.

"Steven…" Jackie began.

"Jackie, get out." Hyde told her firmly.

The tiny brunette moved her mismatched eyes to Hyde and then to Eric, then back again as she asked the age old question in her head. Should she stay or should she go?

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__And that would be Chapter 14 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_What did Hyde hear? Will Jackie leave the room or will she stay to protect Eric? Will Eric be seeing Kitty soon? Will he get any of his luggage back? What's going to happen when Red gets home? And will the gang ever have a home cooked meal? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks!"_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	16. I Know

_**Disclaimer: **__I own…um…pretty much…nothing._

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone! I am so sorry for not posting! I have a feeling you guys know why, it's pretty much the same reason as always. No it's not I fell asleep. It was…college algebra. Yuck. I have a final this week and last week we were reviewing and this week too, but I figured I work on the chapter, last week and post them this week. Hope that didn't hurt anyone's head. And then yesterday I was gonna post it but my professor held a surprise review session, of course I went. But then afterwards…I kinda stayed to vent with a couple of friends about the class. And today we had an extra credit assignment for the class. So to um up, I did not update because of college algebra. But after Friday, I'm free! Unless something happens during the test. Anyways. I want to thank all of you for all of your kind words and alerts, and favorites. I am so happy you guys are enjoying this story. It makes me enjoy writing it even more! Oh and please remember I am not a doctor or anything in the medical career, but I do enjoy science more than math. Thanks again to everyone and please forgive me for the late update, as soon as the finals done and as long as I don't fail, updates will be back on schedule! Now go on, read, and Enjoy!_

* * *

"_So with all of us hanging out here all the time, you never got tired of us?" Hyde asked in disbelief._

"_No, I always wanted to have a house full of kids."_

_Hyde frowned, "So you married Red? The Anti-kid."_

"_Steven," Kitty slightly scolded with a shake of her head, "Red does not hate kids. After we have two wonderful kids of our own."_

"_Really?" he asked sounding and looking confused, "Who are they?"_

"_Laurie and Eric." She told Hyde, looking at him with a concerned face. How could he have forgotten them?_

"_Oh." Hyde replied, "I got a little confused when you said wonderful."_

0o0o

It felt like hours, days even, for Jackie as she sat in the battle field where she was sure World War III would soon break out.

She looked at her ex-boyfriend. Hyde was standing with arms uncrossed and his Zen all over his face. But after dating him for over two years, Jackie could see the anger he had in his eyes behind his shades. She couldn't leave Eric to face that alone.

Moving her head abit downwards, she saw Eric who was much easier to read. He was nervous, he was scared, he almost resembled a deer caught in the headlights. And he was probably in just as much trouble as that deer.

Jackie was ready to stand her ground and tell Steven that she wasn't going anywhere, until she realized maybe this was what these two needed to get back their brotherly relationship. Not them beating each other to death, which Hyde was likely to do, but them talking about Kitty, about Eric's absences, about anything and everything that needed to be discussed.

Slowly, Jackie stood up from her seat. Eric was quick to notice Jackie's movement and began to panic.

He grabbed out her wrist, holding on to her tightly, "Where're you going."

"Don't worry." She assured him in a soft voice as she placed her hand over the one he had gripped onto her wrist, "You'll be fine."

Once Eric had let go of her wrist, and it had taken quite a few seconds, Jackie walked away from the table and over to Hyde.

"Steven," she said stopping in front of him "you better not kill him." she told him in a firm tone of voice, "Or Mom will kill you. And I'll help her."

"I know, Jackie." Hyde answered in his Zen tone.

Jackie nodded her head towards Hyde and then looked back at Eric—he still appeared to be nervous—but she kept walking to the dinning room reminding herself that she was doing the right thing.

Eric anxiously turned his body around so he could look at his adoptive brother.

"Hey Hyde." He greeted in his high pitched voice, he quickly cleared his throat before speaking. "How's it going?"

Hyde didn't answer; he just walked over to the kitchen table. With each step Hyde took, Eric felt his heart beat faster and faster. He was sure he was going to receive something a lot harder then one of Hyde's usual frogs.

Again Eric cleared his throat, "You didn't by any chance not hear…."

"You saying I'm stubborn and acting childish?" Hyde asked taking a seat across form Eric—being sure to leave a chair between them, "Yeah, I heard."

"Of course you did." Eric nodded.

"But that's what I want to talk about." Hyde added.

"Oh, ok. Good, yeah that's good. We'll…we'll talk about something else." Eric said trying to stay calm, "Hey did Kelso tell you about his new idea for cars?"

"What are you doing here, Forman?" Hyde asked, not bothering to even acknowledge Eric's question.

"He wants to make toy cars have a button that turns them into real cars." Eric rambled on, but Hyde's face showed he wasn't at all amused.

"Forman." He repeated his tone a lot more serious, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see Mom." Eric replied, "You called me and told me what was going on, remember?"

"Yeah, and after I finished talking to you, you said you had to stay because you couldn't miss work." Hyde reminded, keeping his Zen, "Then a few days later you're here anyways."

Eric nodded, he knew Hyde was bound to ask about that. When he'd talked to him on the phone that Saturday, he was pretty set on staying in Seattle because of work; and it had upset Hyde a lot. If Jackie wouldn't have called, he'd probably be in his apartment grading his students' papers.

"I don't know, man. After you hung up with me, Jackie called and just started talking to me." The once twitchy young man explained, "I guess then I just realized that I really needed to come see Mom."

"Jackie called you? And got you to come here?"

"Yeah, I can't explain it either." Eric said out loud, hoping to get a smile out of the Zen master, but no such thing happened.

Hyde continued to frown, his only movement being his arms as he crossed them over his chest. "Well can you explain you sneaking past me to go see Mom only to run off without even saying 'bye' or 'I'll be right back' to her?"

"I…" Eric opened his mouth only to close it shut when he realized there was nothing he could say that would make him taking off seem understandable. He sighed before continuing. "No. That was stupid and I shouldn't have done it. I shouldn't have snuck past you either, but Jackie made it seem like a good idea and…"

"Jackie?" Hyde arched an eyebrow, "_Again_?"

Eric's expression fell and he lost his train of thought. It had been Jackie again. Jackie had been helping and doing a lot of things for him. Either she was being really nice or she was being really evil and he just didn't know it yet.

"Yeah, Jackie again." He nodded, "I guess she's got me under some kind of Devil spell or something."

Eric smiled and laughed some as he watched Hyde, trying to get even a twitch at either of the corners of his mouth. But it was like he was made of stone. He sat stiff and still and the like other statues, the look he was giving scared Eric.

Coming to the conclusion that lame jokes and mild burns on other people wouldn't help patch things up between the two of them, Eric decided to do one of one of the things he was almost positive would work.

"Look Hyde, I feel really guilty about leaving Mom the way I did that day. And I'm gonna talk to her about it, and apologize." Eric began, "But I also wanted to tell you that I feel pretty bad about what I said to you the other night."

Hyde didn't say anything, but Eric was sure he remembered.

"I didn't mean it…I guess it was just I don't know the stress of everything…the time change maybe." He went on, looking down at his hands for a few seconds, "Whatever it was, I was wrong man. Mom is as much your mom as she is my mom."

"Yeah, but you're her _real_ son." Hyde reminded while still staring deeply at the man he'd considered a brother years ago, "You're the one she carried around for nine months. You're the one she gave birth to. You're the one who she's been there for since day one."

"But where were you man?" he asked, his Zen now starting to faded away and his anger taking over, "Where were you when she was going through the chemo? Where were you when she had to celebrate her birthday in the hospital? Where were you when the doctors told her she only had a few weeks left?"

Eric looked away from Hyde's shaded eyes, he suddenly wished his friend would go back to being Zen.

"In Seattle." He answered in a tiny, ashamed voice.

"Yeah, in Seattle, _working_." Hyde agreed in anything but a happy tone, "Which is exactly where you planned on going back to today. To work." He shook his head, "I never thought you'd be one to choose work over family, Forman."

Those last words hit a nerve with Eric. He loved what he did at work, he loved his students, he loved his job; but he could never love it more than his family. More than his mother.

"Hyde, I'm not like you alright? I don't have some 'rich sugar daddy' to hand me everything." Eric fought back in a strong upset tone, "And I don't go to work instead of being with Mom because I _choose_ to. _I have to_. I _have_ to go to work if I want to make a living. I can't just call them up and tell them I'm not going in and get off nice and easy, like you can."

"Fine, I'll give you W.B. He's a good guy who understands what's going on and gives me a break for it." Hyde nodded his head, "But what about Red and Jackie? Huh? Red's still got the muffler shop that he owns and runs. Then Jackie's that shopping person. And still both of them have been able to be there for every surgery, every treatment, every everything!"

"Damn it, Hyde." Eric cursed, "Don't make me sound like the worst son in the world. I've come to visit plenty of times since I moved to Seattle."

"Yeah, but how many of those times was Mom sick? _Really_ sick?" Hyde questioned.

Eric was silent as he thought over the last few years. He had made several trips to Point Place over the years, but he couldn't seem to remember too many times that he saw his mom sick.

"Two." Hyde answered for him, "Two times, Forman. And the second time you ended up leaving back to Seattle early. You're _her kid_ Forman, and you only saw her twice while she was sick. She can expect shit like this from Laurie cause she's Laurie. But you…"

"Do you even realize how much you've hurt her, man?" He asked angrily, Eric opened his mouth but wasn't able to get any worse to leave it, "Don't even bother trying to answer that one, cause you don't."

Eric stayed quiet, as he watched Hyde's angry eyes close.

Hyde sighed, trying to calm himself down, before opening his eyes again.

"I remember one time back when she was the hospital the second or third time, I heard her and Red talking." He explained in a softer voice, "She was asking him if he thought she was a good mom. He told her he did and stuff like that, then he asked her why she was asking him that." He paused for a few seconds, to move his eyes up to see Eric, "Mom told him she thought maybe she had done something to you and Laurie and that's why you guys hadn't been around to much."

Eric didn't think he could feel any worse about this whole situation, but Hyde's story proved him wrong. His mom, the world's best mom, was thinking she was a bad mom. Because of him. And Laurie, but like Hyde said she was Laurie.

"She was crying, man. The whole time. Red tried to comfort her but she kept crying." Hyde went on to say, "I don't know about you Forman, but I can't stand to see Mom cry."

"Me neither." Eric agreed with a nod of his head before looking up at Hyde, "And I know that was a mistake. All of it. Staying away so long. Running off, both times. But that's what I do, you've known me long enough to know that Hyde. I'm Eric Forman and I make dumbass mistakes."

Hyde snorted, "Yeah, a lot of them."

"True." Eric nodded again, "But I also try to fix my mistakes Sure sometimes things only get worse, but sometimes they do work out. I wanna try and make things better for this one. And I hope, for Mom's sake you'll help me."

For several seconds the kitchen was silent, Hyde's face stared back at Eric's slightly nervous one.

"You know" Hyde began to say, "after tomorrow, if you hurt her again, you're gonna have both me and Red to deal with right?"

"Scares me just thinking about it." He replied honestly.

Trying his best not to smirk, Hyde nodded, "Alright."

"Alright?" Eric asked surprised that he'd agreed so fast, but also confused, did he really just agree that fast? "Alright you'll help me?"

"Yeah." The curly haired man nodded, "For Mom."

Eric couldn't help but smile, "Ok, great. So does this mean we're good now?"

"We're getting there." Hyde informed as he stood up from his chair and headed to the exit.

Understandingly, Eric nodded his head. He knew Hyde wouldn't says they were good right away, but a 'we're getting there' was a whole lot better than a 'no.'

"So can I stay with Mom tonight?"

"No."

"What?!" Eric asked, regaining his squeaky like voice, "Hyde, I just said I knew if I messed things up again I'd have to deal with you and Red. That's enough to make me stop breathing. I'm not…"

"Geeze Forman, don't get your panties in a bunch." Hyde said, shutting Eric up, "I don't want you staying with Mom tonight because she's sick. Really sick. And you've pretty much just told me you can't handle seeing her like that."

"But Hyde…" Eric began to protest.

"Look man, maybe tomorrow if she's doing better you can see here. And maybe _maybe_ stay the night with her."

That was reasonable, and so Eric nodded in agreement.

"Oh hey and Hyde," he called out, causing Hyde to stop and turn away from the swinging door, "Thanks for being here and helping Mom and Dad out with all of this. I really appreciate it."

"Yeah well," Hyde started to say a not so nice comment, but then suddenly remembered what Kitty had told him earlier. He nodded his head, "Thanks too, man."

With a puzzled look on his face, Eric watched Hyde leave the kitchen and go into the living.

On the other side of the door, Hyde was making his way up the living room stairs as Jackie was descending down them. Neither of them said a word. As they passed each other on the staircase, Jackie tried to spot any blood splatters on any of his clothing.

As soon as Hyde was upstairs and Jackie was well into the living room, the kitchen swinging door swung open again. When Jackie saw it was Eric, she practically ran over to him.

"Oh thank God, I thought he killed you." She told him.

Eric smirked, "Sounds like somebody would miss me if I was gone."

The concern in Jackie's face quickly vanished and she stared up at him as she shook her head. "No, I wouldn't."

"Yes, you would." He teased.

"No, I wouldn't." she argued, "I would first go bail Steven out of jail and then throw a party."

"But while you were getting Hyde out of jail, _you'd miss me_." He sing-songed the last part.

Jackie rolled her eyes, "Yeah, sure, if that makes you feel important. So how did it go in there?"

"Pretty good." He replied as she sat down on the couch, "We talked and he even said if Mom was doing better tomorrow, I might be able to stay the night with her."

"Yeah, good luck with that." Jackie said with a snort, "If Mom has even the small case of the sniffles, to Steven it means she's not feeling well. And it's only gonna get worse when your dad gets here." She rambled on, not noticing Eric's smile fall, "I swear with those two watching Mom, not even the Queen of England would get in to see her."

"And Mom loves The Queen." Eric stated out loud, now wondering just how true Hyde's words were.

Jackie frowned with confusion, before looking over to Eric where she was met with a somber expression. Now she felt like a dumbass. Well maybe not a dumbass but she did feel bad.

"Eric, I didn't mean it like that." She said, taking a seat beside him and placing a soft hand on his back, "Everything's gonna be fine when your dad gets here."

Eric turned to look at her, "You keep saying that."

"Because it's the truth."

"Yeah, for you maybe." He said looking away for a few seconds, "He actually likes you."

"He likes you too, Eric." Jackie insisted, "He even loves you."

"Ok, now you're pushing it."

Jackie tilted her head slightly to the side, "And I bet he sees a lot of himself in you too. I know I do." Seeing Eric confused and yet curious frown, she went on, "You both care a lot about your work and family. You'd do anything for your loved ones. You've got his green eyes and his mischievous yet sometimes evil smirk. And I've seen old pictures of your dad, and you finally got those of his muscles."

"Um ok, I'm not sure what's weirder. "Eric began, "The fact that you found some many things Red and I have in common, or that you're checking him out in his old photos."

Glaring at him Jackie went on with her list, "Oh look at that, you have his receding hairline too."

Eric's eyes almost popped out of his head, before he popped off of the sofa.

"Quick get me a mirror!" he ordered as he rushed around the room in search of anything that would show his reflection.

The tiny brunette remained on the couch, watching and laughing with amusement. She would've let him go on for a good five minutes, but the poor guy had already been through enough today.

"Sit your ass down." She ordered shaking her head.

Eric froze in his tracks, "Now you're sounding like him…this is getting too scary. I'm just gonna ask my favor and go up to bed."

"What favor?"

"Oh right." Eric began, taking a seat on the couch again, "You know how I had the questions for Angela and you said you could help me answer them?"

"Yeah." Jackie nodded, with her brow furrowed.

"Well I was thinking maybe you could help learn how to do stuff that'll help Mom out." He explained, "Different things, thing you think I should know. I wanna be here for Mom, as much I can."

A smile found its way onto Jackie's face, "I could do that."

"Thanks Jackie." Eric said happily; he was so glad she had agreed, he knew she would be the most help to him, that he could've kissed her. "You're the best."

"I know."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__And that would be Chapter 15 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Will things ever be the same between Hyde and Eric? Will Eric be able to see Kitty the next day? What will Red's reaction be to Eric being back? Where is Laurie? And how will Jackie helping Eric help Kitty work out? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until then, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	17. In Trouble

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing, nothing._

_**Author's Note: **__Hello All! Did you miss me? I know I missed you guys! I am soo sorry fro not updating last week. Time just got away from me. But I did use my time wisely this last week, when I didn't post. I'm close to finishing up the next chapter. However that doesn't mean I'll be posting that later this week, but it does mean I'm getting ahead an d perhaps no more later updates! Just in time for summer right? Can't believe it's already here. Can't believe this is the last update I'll be making while im in high school. Pretty sad. But onto good news, the chapter is pretty long! Yay! Now please remember I am not a doctor, or a nurse, or work in a hospital. And thanks so much for your reviews and support! It means so much to me! Now you've waited long enough go on, read and Enjoy!_

* * *

"_But I still don't get how you knew it was us who'd painted the water tower." Hyde said from behind the camera, "We talked about that place…at all!"_

_Kitty just smiled, "A mother knows, Steven." She explained, "Remember that."_

"_She may not have to hear it or see it. She doesn't even have to have any clues at all. She just knows."_

0o0o

Thursday morning came and Eric was quick to wake up. His body was quickly getting used to the new time zone, it had lived in for so long.

Him being comfortable with the time change wasn't the only reason for his quick awakening. He was actually feeling a lot better than he had when he had first arrived back in Point Place. He'd talked things out with Hyde, Jackie was going to help him out with his mom, and he was gonna see his mom later on today…along with his dad.

Actually those last two things still had him shaking abit, but not as much as the second thing on that list.

Though he was sure Jackie would keep her word, and would in fact help him, he had yet to get use to the devil helping him.

Climbing out of Jackie's luxurious bed, Eric head over to the corner of the room to get his change of clothes.

It wasn't until he was inches away from where his suitcase was supposed to be, that he remembered why he had slept in his clothes from yesterday.

_Jackie. _

Eric sighed before looking at himself in the full length mirror of the closet door. He looked pretty decent, luckily he hadn't gotten his shirt or jeans too dirty yesterday. But he did still need to brush his hair and teeth. He bent down to get his toiletries, only to pop back up with a deep glare on his face.

_The Devil._

He thought to himself before deciding that Jackie's idea of keeping his luggage hostage was ridiculous and exiting the bedroom.

He kept his thoughts on finding Jackie and figuring out what he was going to say to her to get his stuff back—or at least his tooth brush—as he headed for the stairs while also trying to be quiet for anyone who was still asleep.

By the time he was at the staircase and had climbed down the first two, he had a pretty good plan. However, when he looked to his right he forgot every detail about it. Some could even say he might have forgotten how to walk, as he had stopped in his tracks and watched the scene before him.

It was Donna and Randy again. They were asleep on the sofa bed, but unlike yesterday when the only contact had been Randy's arm on Donna's waist, this mornings' had much more.

Randy's arm was around Donna's shoulder, holding onto her unlike the draping it had done yesterday. And Donna was snuggled up against him, her head resting on his shoulder. And while Eric wasn't very close to the couple, he could see the slightest smile on her lips.

It was so fait that even if someone was closer to them, they wouldn't be able to recognize it; but Eric could. He'd know Donna for almost his whole life and he may not have always know when she was upset, but he knew she was happy. And right now, she was happy.

Eric looked down at his feet, forcing hem to go down the remaining steps, while at the same time reminding himself to stop looking in that direction in the mornings.

As Eric entered the kitchen the glass side door was being slid open by the brunette he'd been looking for seconds ago.

Jackie didn't seem to notice him, and Eric was slightly grateful for that. If she had seen him, she would have also caught the smile of on his face that he still wasn't quite sure how it'd got there.

This sight had been a lot better than the previous one he'd just seen. There was no ex of his being held by another man and being happy about it, it was just Jackie in her winter coat and matching hat and gloves, entering the kitchen with two large white boxes with green polka dots on them.

"Hey." He called out frowning abit as he recognized where the boxes had come from, "I thought you said no repeats on the takeout food? I bought doughnuts yesterday."

Getting over the startle Eric had given to her, Jackie looked over at him.

"This is not a repeat. You bought _Dunkin Doughnuts_. I bought _Krispy Kreme_. Which everyone knows is _so_ much better." She told him in a matter of fact tone as she placed the boxes on the table and then turned back to him, "And by the way, good morning to you too."

"Morning." He said with a smile, and then let it fall, "And a doughnut's a doughnut. And even if they weren't, _Dunkin' Doughnuts_ could kick _Krispy Kreme's_ ass. _Dunkin' Doughnuts_ has the word 'doughnut' in it. Both those words in _Krispy Kreme_ are spelled wrong."

"Oh really?" Jackie asked angrily taking off her coat, "In _Krispy Kreme's_ they have a window so you can see how the doughnuts are made. You can make sure they're not putting anything in the doughnuts and that creepy hairy acne person isn't making them. _Dunkin' Doughnuts_ doesn't…I don't even wanna think about what happens back there."

Eric took a step closer to the brunette, it was fun fighting little meaningless fights. And this was what he was use to doing with the devil.

"_Dunkin' Doughnuts_," he began, "has coffee."

Jackie's eyes widened abit. That was true. And while _Krispy Kreme_ had coffee, it was really nothing compared to _Dunkin' Doughnuts_. Thinking quickly, she grabbed one of the rectangular prisms off the table and opened up the lid to show off twelve different delicious looking doughnuts.

"Look at this." She ordered him, "See how fresh and nicely put in these doughnuts are. Unlike old squashed up ones you bought from your precious _Dunkin' Doughnuts_ yesterday."

Eric looked at the assorted parties but he couldn't help but let his eyes drift upwards abit and catch a glimpse of Jackie's low cute green sweater. Quickly he looked back at the round pieces of bread.

"What do have to say to that Forman?" she asked intimidating.

"I…" Eric struggled, the image of the 'V Cut' in Jackie's top was suddenly the only thing his mind seemed to be able to focus on, "I like your doughnuts."

Jackie grinned proudly, as if she knew what he had really been talking about, and closed the cardboard box back up. Feeling more than abit embarrassed, Eric avoided Jackie's eyes and prayed for an asteroid to hit or something to explode…anything that would keep them from going into an awkward silence that he knew he would try to end by saying something stupid.

Well it wasn't an asteroid, but the person who was emerging from the basement looked about ready to explode.

Eric and Jackie watched as Fez marched into the kitchen, fuming as he talked into himself in his foreign language. Though neither one of them knew exactly what it was Fez was saying, they had a good feeling it wasn't anything cheerful.

The young foreign man stomped over to the cabinets and grabbed a coffee mug, then went over to the coffee pot. He lifted the pitcher over his yellow cup, but nothing came out; causing him to slam the coffee maker back on the counter look up and utter more words Jackie and Eric didn't understand, while moving his hands up in the air.

He was beginning to remind his friends of Ricky Ricardo and they had to cover their mouths to keep from laughing.

"And good morning to you Fez." Jackie greeted with a smile, that she tried to keep from turning into a fit of laughter.

"And what is so good about it?" Fez asked angrily, "Nothing, I say! First my back hurts because of the lumpy couch I am sleeping on. Then it was cold last night because I am sleeping in a basement. It is a school day so there are no cartoons on except for the damn educational ones. And…Oo doughnuts!"

Fez's vent was right away forgotten, when he saw the flat box on the table and rushed over to it.

Jackie's smile grew as she saw the excitement on Fez's face and the smile gone from Eric's.

"Ha-ha." She said to Eric, teasingly before walking closer to Fez.

"And not just any doughnuts, Fez." She said over her friend's shoulder as he tried to select the perfect doughnut, "_Krispy Kreme_ doughnuts."

Fez nodded and took a seat in the kitchen chair infront of the doughnut box, to get a better view. "I know, it's ok. I like these too."

"Too?" Jackie and Eric asked at the same time. One tone happier than the other.

"Yes." Fez again nodded, finally looking up from the assorted treats, "I like the other doughnuts that Eric brought yesterday, better. But these are still good."

A grin soon broke out onto Eric's face at the same time that Jackie's seemed to have disappeared. And seeing Jackie's gloating expression fall from her face made Eric's grin grew even more.

Not being able to contain himself, he leaned closer to her, "Ha-ha."

Jackie whipped her head around to face Eric. Her mismatched eyes showing both her annoyance and her anger, and getting Eric to keep his comments to himself. With a scowl still indented on her forehead, Jackie turned to her candy-loving friend.

"What do you mean you like _Dunkin' Doughnuts_ better than _Krispy Kreme_? _Krispy Kreme's_ doughnuts are so much sweeter!" Jackie argued, "You're Fez! Mr. Sugarman! How can you like _Dunkin' Doughnuts_ better than _Krispy Kreme_?"

Fez looked up at his goddess, frightened by her outburst on doughnuts. "_Krispy Kreme's_ doughnuts are…too sweet." He explained in a shaky voice, "They hurt my tummy."

Eric held back a laugh as he watched Jackie's expression completely fall and show complete disbelief, while Fez rubbed his stomach like a smile child.

"Oh, I am not Mr. Sugarman." Fez continued, "I prefer, Mr. _Candyman_. That way my theme song can be the one from Willy Wonka." The foreign man then proceeded to sing the famous song. "_Who can take a sunrise, sprinkle it with dew, cover it in chocolate and a miracle or two? The candyman. The candyman can_."

"_The candyman can cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good!"_ Little Betsy Kelso sang as she ran into the room and over to Uncle Fez's lap—both her parents close behind her.

Brooke smiled at looked over at Eric and Jackie, "Bet you guys can't guess what movie plays, almost nonstop in our apartment."

"Um I'm gonna go with…_Mary Poppins_?" Eric guessed playing along with the game and causing the two women to laugh.

"No!" Kelso answered with a large scowl, obviously not catching Eric's tone. "It's _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_, duh! Besides _Mary Poppins _is scary. I mean come on, a woman riding an umbrella and…Awesome doughnuts!"

Kelso's statement against _Mary Poppins _was soon forgotten as his eyes landed on his best friend and daughter and most importantly what was infront of them. The box of _Krispy Kreme_ Doughnuts.

Jackie smirked as she watched her ex-boyfriend rush over to the breakfast she had bought. She had a good feeling that she knew which kind of doughnuts Kelso liked best. Taking a quick look at Eric through the corner of her eyes, she took a step closer to the kitchen table.

"Oh Michael, you liked the doughnuts from _Krispy Kreme_?" she asked innocently.

"Uh…" the pretty man paused for dramatic-ness, "Yeah!"

Eric furrowed his brow at Jackie who was smiling away as she tilted her head to the side. She really was determined to show him that _Krispy Kreme_ doughnuts were better than _Dunkin' Doughnuts_…too bad that would never happen. With a grin on his face, he took a step forward.

"So if you had to choose," Eric began to say, ignoring Jackie's curious eyes, "who has the better doughnuts, _Dunkin' Doughnuts_ or _Krispy Kreme_?"

"_Krispy Kreme_."

"_Dunkin' Doughnuts_." A foreign voice called out at the same time.

Slowly and at the same time Kelso and Fez turned to look at each other, glaring as they did so.

"_**Krispy Kreme**_." Kelso repeated.

Fez frowned, "_**Dunkin' Doughnuts**_"

"_Krispy Kreme!"_

"I said _Dunkin' Doughnuts_!" Fez declared.

"Oh yeah?" Kelso asked, "Well you know what I say…"

As Eric and Jackie watched their two friends fight over the best doughnuts—as poor Betsy sat in the middle—their smiles faded away. As did their interest in the argument. Seeing it being fought this way, showed how pointless it was. After all they had a rule growing up in the basement, if Kelso and Fez took the time to argue over it, it was really just too pointless.

Brooke shook her head as she watched her husband and his friend, "Well my day has officially started."

Jackie and Eric both laughed at Brooke's statement—that was very much telling the truth. Just when Brooke joined in in the laughter, Betsy jumped out from in between her arguing relatives and ran to her mother's side.

"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!" the little girl called as she tugged at the bottom of Brooke's red blouse.

"And it looks like it's gonna be a regular one." Brooke said to Eric and Jackie before turning to her daughter and changing her voice to a softer, sweeter tone, "What is it, sweetie?"

"I want chocolate milk!" Betsy replied happily, however her mother's expression did not match her tone.

"What's the right way to say that Betsy?"

"Um…" the littlest Kelso thought for a few seconds, "Can I have chocolate milk? Pwease!"

Knowing it wouldn't help Betsy remember her manners, Jackie and Eric tried their best not to laugh or even let a smile escape onto their lips. But that little girl was just too cute. Jackie had to smile, she was her goddaughter after all! And she didn't feel so bad when Brooke turned towards her and she saw her own small smile.

"Jackie…"

"The milk and chocolate syrup are in the fridge." Jackie said with a nod to the fridge.

Brooke smiled back at the tiny brunette before walking over to the brown refrigerator to get the ingredients for her daughter's, who wasn't so far behind, chocolate milk. She made it to just a few steps away from the icebox, when Jackie stopped her.

"Brooke, wait." She called out over the doughnut argument that was still taking place, "Why don't you let me get Betsy's milk? That way you can relax a little bit longer and she is my goddaughter."

"I don't know…" Brooke said with uncertainty.

She had heard the horror stories of Jackie's cooking and had even been a victim of some of the holiday 'treats' she sent out with Mrs. Forman. Sure chocolate milk was easy to make, but so were rice-krispy-treats. The ones she sent them for Halloween proved that they'd been a difficult task for Jackie.

"Come on Brooke, who ruins chocolate milk?" Jackie questioned not expecting an answer.

But got one anyways.

"The same person who ruined instant coffee." said Eric.

Jackie outstretched her arm to smack the back of smirking Eric Forman's head, but got cut off by Brook lifting up her own hands in the air.

"Ok, ok!" she called out to Jackie, "You can make Betsy her chocolate milk. Just don't start fighting with Eric. I can only handle one fight so early in the day." She finished as she motioned to where Fez and Kelso were.

"Thank you Brooke." Jackie replied with a smile and then turned to Betsy, "Come on Betsy, you can help me make your milk."

Eagar to do the mixing part of the chocolate milk, Betsy clasped her little hand over Jackie's and the two walked over to the fridge. Brooke smiled at the moment glad her daughter could spend a little quality time with her godmother.

"See how she took Betsy?" Eric asked, tearing Brooke's eyes away from Betsy and Jackie, "She did it so she can make sure she's doing it right."

Not two seconds after the words left his mouth, two things happened. Brooke gave a small giggle and a flying dish towel collided with the side of his face.

"I heard that." Jackie informed from behind.

Eric smiled shyly and shrugged in Brooke's direction and she smiled back. Then the two of them became quiet and went back to watching Kelso and Fez's debate. That is until Jackie and Betsy with a nice cold glass of chocolate milk, complete with _Krazy Straw_, returned to the table.

"Tada!" Jackie proudly exclaimed as she gestured to Betsy happily sipping her beverage through the straw. She pointed her index finger at Eric, "Now you can't say that I don't know how to make anything. Because I just made chocolate milk!"

"Hold on a minute Julia Child." Eric said, stopping Jackie's rambling with his hand, "Betsy, how is it?"

The little girl stopped her drinking and let go of the straw. She looked up at her godmother and then at her Uncle Eric.

"I'm still alive." She said nodding her head.

"Burn!" Kelso shouted not missing the chance to call out his daughter's burn, but then went back to his argument. "But _Krispy Kreme_ has two 'K's and _Kelso_ has one!"

Jackie stared over at the tall man, and angry expression on her face. Then she realized he wasn't the one who she should be mad at, he wasn't the one who made the burn. So Jackie turned to Betsy, but just seeing her continuing to drink her milk reminded Jackie that she couldn't even try to get mad her.

No, she knew who she should be upset with. And she turned her head to look over at him.

"Listen here Forman, I…" Jackie began, putting her right hand on her hip and using her left hand to point at her 'enemy.' When she raised up her left hand a bit higher she caught a glimpse of her watch, "I have to make the coffee before Steven gets up."

Brooke noticed Eric's face show alarm when Jackie said the words. At first she was abit confused as to why he made that facial expression, but then she remembered his comment from earlier about Jackie ruining instant coffee. So far Brooke had been lucky enough not to taste the infamous coffee, and she'd kind of like to keep it that way.

"Um Jackie, what if I made the coffee instead?" the tall brunette stopping Jackie from grabbing the coffee pot, "You did get Betsy's milk for me."

Jackie frowned slightly, "Yeah, but that was so you could relax."

"And I am! Now it's your turn to relax. Let me make the coffee." Brooke began, already walking over to where Jackie was, "You go sit down, spend some more time with your goddaughter. Burn Eric a couple of times."

"Well," Jackie said as a smile crept on to her lips, "if you insist."

Jackie then made her way back to the round table, leaving Brooke to prepare the coffee. She never noticed Eric turn back to Brooke and mouth the words 'You are a saint.' Instead Jackie just sat herself down in the chair beside Eric and pulled Betsy into her lap, all the while with an evil-like smile on her face.

"Morning you guys." A new voice greeted the group.

A few 'good morning's and 'morning's were said in response to Donna's greeting as she and Randy walked into the kitchen.

Jackie turned herself around abit in her seat, "How did you guys sleep last night?"

"Pretty good." Randy informed with a nod, before his eyes drifted off to where Kelso and Fez were still arguing, "Score, doughnuts!"

The feathered-haired man quickly made his way over to the battlefield, his mind set on getting a doughnut; however as he paid closer attention the fight, Randy couldn't help but share his opinion.

"You guys are both wrong." He said, standing between both men and reaching in for a doughnut, "The best doughnuts are the ones from bakery at the grocery store in Rhode Island."

Together Fez and Kelso frowned at Randy. Kelso couldn't believe he liked doughnuts from a grocery store and Fez had to fight back the urge to push Randy away and snatch the box away. But they were only _Krispy Kreme _doughnuts, so he let it go.

Randy picked up a regular glazed doughnut out of the box and grinned as he reached in for an identical one, "Hey guys look, if you turn the over like this, They're boobs."

That did it for both Kelso and Fez. They had been the one to make that discovery!

With angry glares on their faces, the two men looked up at Randy who just continued to smile. They then stood up out of their seats and headed for the basement. Fez leaded the way into the lower level of the house with Kelso not too far behind.

But just before Kelso disappeared into the basement, he came running back to the table and snatched one of the boxes of doughnuts before sprinting his way out of the room.

The actions had pretty much been ignored. Randy had just shrugged and then taken a bite out of his breakfast. Brooke went on with the making of the coffee. Eric was talking to Betsy about her milk. And Donna started up a conversation.

"Hey Jackie, I was kinda wondering if you could help me with something." the tall blonde started to say as she walked closer to Jackie.

Sensing that this could take awhile, and he wasn't exactly comfortable with being so close to Donna especially with her fiancé on the other side of him, Eric excused himself and walked over to where Brooke was standing.

"Sure." Jackie nodded as she played with Betsy's hair, "What is it?"

"Well I know we're here for Mrs. Forman, but you did say we shouldn't spend all of our time with her because she doesn't want that." Donna began and Jackie nodded again, "So I was kind of hopping you could maybe go shopping with me and help me pick out stuff for the wedding. Help me plan the wedding."

"Oh my God, really?"

Donna smiled, "Yeah. I mean that is what a Maid of Honor does right?"

"You want me to be your Maid of Honor?" Jackie asked with wide eyes. Sure she and Donna were close, but over the years they had sort of drifted apart; Jackie had never imagined being asked to be her Maid of Honor again.

"Do you know another midget who'd be interested in the job?" Donna asked teasingly.

"No, no. I would love to be your Maid of Honor!" Jackie replied with a big smile on her face—she loved weddings. "Wait the bride's maid dresses aren't gonna be plaid right? Eh, I'm sure I can pull off either way. Oh Donna this is gonna be so much fun!"

Donna laughed, he was happy to see her friend so happy. These few days she'd been here Jackie hadn't exactly been the same Jackie from high school which was actually pretty good. Still it was nice to see the old Jackie come out for a little bit.

"Yeah," Donna agreed, "and I figured we could bring some stuff to Mrs. Forman too and get her opinion on stuff. You know how she's always liked weddings and planning parties."

Jackie smiled and nodded, "I think she'd love that idea."

"It's not gonna be some huge ball but I really want to have everyone part of it." Donna explained before remembering something else, she turned around to where Brooke and Eric were standing.

After hearing Donna's words, Eric froze and he was relieved to here his ex-girlfriend called out Brooke's name instead.

"I hope I can count on you as a bride's maid."

Brooke smiled, "Sure."

"And Betsy," Donna said turning back to Jackie and the little girl in her lap, "you could be the flower girl."

Betsy smiled largely, "I like flowers."

The was the last part of the conversation Eric heard, because after that Jackie started rambling about dresses and shoes and then napkins. Eric didn't have time to worry about that. His mind was on a bigger concern.

Donna wanted everyone part of her wedding. Was he part of everyone? Did she want him part of the wedding? Did she even want him at the wedding. An ex at your wedding…awkward.

Before Eric could let his imagination run off to anywhere else, the swinging door was pushed open and the member of the group they had yet to see that morning walked in.

"Hey guys." Hyde greeted as she shuffled into the kitchen, receiving a few greetings as well.

"Do you want some coffee?" Brooke asked getting the needed mugs from the cabinets.

Hyde shook his head, "Nah, I'm good."

"Jackie didn't make it." Eric informed in a whisper.

"Oh." Hyde said before a grin broke his face and he looked back at Brooke, "I'll take two cups then."

Jackie snarled at the curly haired man, not bothering to respond to the comment. She had better things to do.

"How's Mom?" she asked.

"She's doing good." Hyde nodded as he opened up the box of doughnuts Kelso had left behind, "Better than yesterday."

"Really?" Eric asked right away, in an almost excited voice.

Hyde had forgotten about his deal he'd made with Eric last night, and the way Eric had asked the question did little to ease his surprise.

"Um yeah. But she's still feeling pretty bad and she's tired…"

"Steven." Jackie called out in a warning tone, interrupting Hyde from going on.

Hyde sighed and looked from Jackie to Eric, "But you can see her."

Eric smiled, surprising himself. He was still nervous about seeing his mom and explaining to her about him running off, and he still wasn't comfortable seeing her looking so frail. But after talking to Hyde and especially Jackie, he knew he had to see her. And he really did miss her.

"Later." Hyde continued, breaking Eric out of his thoughts, "She's asleep right now. But it has to be before three."

"Why three?" Randy asked curiously.

"That's the time Red's flight gets in." Hyde explained, "Which remind me, Jackie you've gotta pick him up."

Jackie frowned slightly, "Me? Why me? You were the one who called him."

"You're his favorite." He replied with a shrug similar to the one she would use when she'd tell people she was Red's favorite.

Not completely happy with the fact that she'd have to go pick up Red from the airport, Jackie sighed, "Fine."

"Granpa Red's a surprise, Uncle Hyde!" Betsy reminded her godfather, causing everyone—but Hyde—to frown.

Brooke took a step closer to her daughter, "Betsy, did you know about Grandpa Red coming before Mommy and Daddy did?"

"Yup." Betsy nodded her head "Uncle Hyde said he's a surprise for Granma Kitty. He gave me cake."

Betsy's mother shifted her eyes upward, away from Betsy and over to Hyde who simply smirked.

"Kids say the darndest things don't they?" he asked, hoping not to get in trouble about that last part,

"But she's got a point." Hyde went on, realizing that if he changed the subject, the cake might be forgotten. Besides this was pretty important anyways. "Mom doesn't know Red's coming home yet. She doesn't even know I called him."

"She didn't want us calling him and telling him what was going on." Jackie informed to those who didn't know, "She didn't want him to worry and rush home."

"Like he's doing now?" Donna half questioned half stated.

"Right."

"Wait," Eric started, "but she's gonna see Dad today anways…"

"Red said he's make up some story to tell her about him coming home early." Hyde informed, "So in the meantime, don't say anything. And if she asks, just pretend like you don't know anything."

"We need to keep Mom happy and comfortable." Hyde repeated what Red had told him over the phone, "If she found out I called Red, she'll get mad and I'm…"

"Steven!" Kitty could be heard from upstairs, in an anything but a happy tone.

"In trouble."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__And that would be Chapter 16 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Does Donna want Eric part of her wedding? What will happen when Eric sees Kitty? Does Kitty know that Red's coming? When is Red getting home already? And who does have the better doughnuts? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Oo quick little note asking for your help if it's not too much trouble. I'm having a bit of a problem coming up with the Kitty and Hyde scenes at the beginning. I have a few ready to go, but they're for special chapters. It would men a lot if I could get some suggestion on questions Hyde could ask, topics they could discuss or anything you'd like to see in the video. And of course you'll get credit for it in my Author's Note. Thanks in advance!_

_Until next time, thanks for reading hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	18. I Love You Too, Eric

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing._

_**Author's Note: **__Hello All! I know I'm a date late. Sorry 'bout that. And i know it's summer and I shouldn't have any school excuses about not posting. But I don't. I didn't post because my dumb internet kept getting kicked off The dumb thing kicked off last night when I finished the chapter and today it took me three hours before it finally got going. I was so close to take in the thing and dropping it into the pool. But I didn't cause then there'd be no computer to work my stories on and that would make you guys sad or you know mad. And I love my pool. Lol But here it is a day late, the next chapter for "Two Weeks" Thanks for the reviews and the suggestions for the Hyde and Kitty parts! And please if you have any more ideas for anything in the story feel free to let me know! Quick notes: I am not a doctor, just graduated but got a high school diploma not a doctor degree thing lol. Um slight issue warning. I did sniffle a little writing it, so just incase might wanna have one next to you. And thanks for the reviews you guys! Love you all! Now go on, Enjoy!_

* * *

_Hyde shifted the video camera from one arm to the other before he asked his surrogate mother the next questions._

"_Why did you wait so long to tell everyone what was going on?"_

_Kitty frowned slightly, "What do you mean?"_

"_After you and Red found out, you guys waited a few weeks before you told me and Jackie." Hyde began to explain, "It was about another week before the rest of the gang knew. And you'd known you were sick for almost two months before you let all your relatives know. What was that about?"_

"_Steven, I can't think of anyone who likes to deliver bad news. I don't like delivering bad news, at all." Kitty shared as she looked at the camera, "And well if you think about it no news is good news."_

0o0o

Steven Hyde cautiously pushed open the bedroom door. He wasn't exactly a hundred percent sure on why Kitty had called him up here but he had a good idea it wasn't for something good. When he saw her slightly sitting up on the bed with a small frown on her face as she kept her eyes on Steven, his suspicion didn't go away.

"Hi Mom." He greeted walking into the room but keeping his distance.

Kitty gave a small smile, "Steven, why don't you come sit down over here?" she suggested as she moved her hand across the seat he'd spent most of his time in lately.

"Um," Hyde cleared his throat, this was not going to go good, "No thanks. I'm good."

"Steven." She said giving him a warning look, that got Hyde in the chair faster than he would have liked to.

Kitty watched the young man who she and her husband had considered their second son long before they took him into their home, she tried not to look too upset. At least not yet.

"Steven, do you know why I called you up here?"

"You're feeling sick?" Hyde guessed but Kitty shook her head so he took another guess, "You need some medicine?" but that still wasn't the right answer and Kitty shook her head again. "You missed me?"

Kitty closed her eyes, keeping herself from looking at the hopeful smirk Hyde had on his face, and sighed.

"When we got out of the hospital, didn't I ask you not to call anyone?" she asked lifting her eyelids open.

Hyde's smirk fell as he realized the reason he'd been called up here. His thoughts in the kitchen had been right. Red had called and she'd answered and now she knew everything. How he'd been the one to call Red, how he'd told Red to come home, how Red was on his way home. He wasn't in trouble, like he'd said in the kitchen. He was screwed.

"Then you called the rest of you kids, and I wasn't upset because they were coming to visit." Kitty continued speaking, her smile gone. "I thought maybe they were the only ones you had called. But today I get a call from him."

"_Shit."_ Hyde immediately thought to himself.

Kitty noticed the slight nervous and panic in Hyde's appearance, but still wasn't ready to get off the topic. She wanted answers.

"Would you like to explain yourself?" she asked, softening her tone just a bit.

Hyde looked down at his hands, avoiding her eyes. He knew he'd upset her and that was the last thing he wanted to do now; or wanted to do ever. Still though he thought he'd done the right thing calling Red. And Kitty had always told him to stick up for the things he thought were right.

"I'm sorry, Mom." He said looking up, "But I'm not sorry."

Seeing Kitty's puzzled expression Hyde decided to go on, and explain his words.

"Look Mom, I know you don't want people worrying about you but you can't keep stuff like you being sick from your family. From the people that love you" He said defending his action of making that phone call, "And to keep him from knowing…I mean the guy's your…."

"Brother-in-law." Kitty finished for him.

"Exactly, your…wait what?" he asked suddenly hearing what she'd said.

"Marty." Kitty replied, "Red's brother."

A rush of relief filled Hyde. The beans hadn't been spilled about Red coming back home. He was still safe and everything could keep going to the plan. He relaxed in his seat, no longer nervous or worried.

He nodded his head, "Oh Red's brother Marty."

"Yes." Kitty nodded, "Who did you think I was talking about?"

"No one. I was thinking Marty too. Red's brother Marty." Hyde said trying to sound convincing, "I didn't call anyone else."

That was the truth. He hadn't called any of the extended family—unless you count Laurie—he hadn't even called Marty.

"Alright." Kitty replied, believing his words and then giving him a smile, "I'm sorry if I got a little mad, sweetie. I just don't want a lot of people knowing what exactly is going on."

Hyde nodded, but still didn't quite understand why. Why he had nodded and why she didn't want the other relative knowing.

"But why, Mom?" he finally asked, "If we told them yeah they would worry and stuff like that, but maybe they could come and see you. Spend some time with you like the rest of us are."

"Steven, I love my family." Kitty said smiling, "But I don't want them worrying and I don't want them coming to visit me. If they did we'd have a full house and they'd be taking time away from me that I could be spending with you kids."

Hyde smirked a small proud smirk, at the fact that Kitty would rather spend her last days with him and the other misfits than her other relatives.

Kitty went on and as if she'd read Hyde's mind said, "Everyone who I would like to spend my last days with are either here are will be here in only a few days."

"_Or hours."_ Hyde thought as he nodded at his adoptive mother's words.

"So no more phone calls to relative right?" she asked

"Well what about…" Hyde began, getting ready to suggest at least calling sister.

"Steven."

"Alright, I know. I know." He said after a sigh, "You're the dying woman, whatever you want you get."

Kitty let out small laugh, "That's right, "she then slowly pulled his head closer to him and kissed the top of his curly hair, "You're good boy, Steven."

On the outside Hyde smiled at the words, but inside he felt a tug if pain at his heart. Kitty was the only one who'd ever called him a good boy and he was pretty sure she was the only one who always thought he was a good boy. And once she was gone, he'd never be called that again.

0o0o

An hour or two after breakfast and the great doughnut debate, Eric fond himself in Jackie's room. It was almost time for him to go see Kitty, and he was getting walked around the room, checking himself out in the vanity mirror to make sure he looked decent.

He stopped in front of the mirror and frowned before trying to brush his hair with his hands.

Jackie shook her head and stifled a laugh at how concentrated he was on his hair. She was in her room to make her bed, because apparently she had to have it made in a special way. Eric didn't completely believe that though, he thought she either wanted to make sure he went in to see his mother or she wanted to see him sweat.

Once Eric was slightly satisfied with his hair, he looked down at this clothing and noticed the wrinkle in his shirt. Thinking fast, he ran his hand over the crease, using as much pressure as possible. However his 'iron-hand' didn't seem to do a very good job as the crinkle was still visible. He didn't give up though; he gave it three more tries before throwing his hands in the air and turning to the brunette behind him.

"Jackie, come on you've gotta give me a new shirt." He practically begged and then pointed to the small wrinkle "Look at this thing! I don't Mom to see my like this."

Jackie shook her head, "Eric, you look fine. And I'm saying that so it's saying a lot." she said getting him to smile a smug like smile for a few seconds, "Besides your mom's not gonna care about what you're wearing. She just wants to see you."

"But what about my hair?" he asked going into his squeaky, twitchy mode, "Can't I at least have my comb?"

"No." she answered never looking up from the sheets.

"I'm gonna go see Mom right now though." Eric pointed out, not ready to give up the fight, "Just think of the brush as a loan. I'll be paying you back for it later."

"Sorry, you're too high of a risk Mr. Forman." Jackie told him, trying to sound like a person at a bank, as she put the last pillow in its place.

Eric was determined to get something back from his luggage. Something that could help with his appearance. Something he could use and at the same time buy him some more time.

"My teeth!" he practically shouted, "Jackie, you've gotta at least give me my toothbrush. I have this weird taste in my mouth."

Jackie rolled here eyes before walking over to her dresser. Eric watched her with high hopes and a big smile. He'd done it; he was getting his tooth brush! But when Jackie turned back around and Eric saw that there was no toothbrush in her hand, his smile disappeared.

"Here." She said placing the small rectangular package in her hand.

Eric frowned slightly at the packet, "Gum?"

"It's _Trident._" Jackie informed with a shrug.

"Yeah." Eric said sounding uncertain, "I kinda have this deal where I won't chew _Trident Gum_ until the fifth dentist finally agrees with the other four."

"Alright, now you're just being difficult." Jackie said before yanking the gum out of his hands, "And trying to buy more time."

Eric's eyes widened as he heard what she said. How did she know? Maybe it was that obvious, or maybe it was another one of her devil powers.

"I…I…I…" he struggled for a response

"You, you, you are going to go see your mother." Jackie said, mocking him slightly and then grabbing onto his arm, "Now."

"I need the flowers from yesterday though." Eric suddenly remembered, "And they're down stairs, I'll just go…"

Jackie shook her head, "No they're not." She then proceeded to grab the bouquet of pink carnation Eric had failed to notice she'd brought upstairs with her.

He starred blankly at her, "You're…"

"Amazing?" she asked with a smile and a tilt of her head.

"Sure." Eric nodded, "If amazing means evil, then sure."

Jackie glared up at him before handing him the flowers and shoving him towards the door.

The laughter and playful atmosphere died down once the two reached the Forman's bedroom door. Jackie looked over at Eric and saw how tense he'd gotten since they left her room. Softly she placed her hand on his arm.

"It's gonna be ok." She assured.

"Right." Eric nodded and then gave a playful smirk, "But some good luck wouldn't hurt."

She shook her head while smiling, "Not that you need it but," Jackie began as she rose on her tiptoes and leaned closer to Eric's left cheek before placing a quick kiss on it, "Good luck."

Jackie gave him a small smile before lowering herself back down and walking away and towards the staircase.

Meanwhile Eric wasn't exactly as cool as Jackie about what had happened. Eric's face showed surprise, shock, confusion. Did the devil just wish him good luck? More importantly did she just kiss him on the cheek?

He swiftly turned himself around and caught the glance of Jackie causally making her way down the stairs. She was acting as if nothing had happened. But nothing had happened right? Then why was he making such a big deal about it.

Eric shook his head, he didn't want to think about it now. He wanted to see his mom. Taking a deep breath, he lifted his fist to the door and tapped on it lightly.

"Come in." a familiar, yet weaker, voice called out.

Slowly Eric pushed open the door and stuck his head into the room. He gave her a smile.

"Hi Mom."

"Eric." Kitty said in surprise as she carefully sat herself up. Eric saw the smile on her face and his grew as well, "What are you doing here, honey? I thought you left to Seattle yesterday."

He shook his head as he walked closer to his mother's beside, "No. I decided to stay a few more days."

"Really?" she asked with her smile still in place and tears forming in her eyes.

Eric smiled and nodded, "Really."

"Oh." Kitty said happily and released a small giggle; but then the happiness she seemed to have been feeling started fading away as she remembered something, "But what about your absences? You won't get your award with so many absences."

"Don't worry about the award Mom. I'll probably only be here a couple of days." Eric shared, wanting to make his mother feel better; but when he replayed the words in his mind it made it sound like he thought she would be gone in a few days.

Quickly he thought of a better answer.

"I mean, I'll get it next year and years to come." He smiled but only for a few seconds. She wouldn't be around to see him when the award years from now.

That wasn't the right answer either.

"I mean…" Eric thought for a second or two before remembering what someone had told him earlier, "Being here with you is more important than any award."

When he saw Kitty's smile grow and heard her laugh softly, he knew those were the right were. And they did feel right when he said them.

"Oh and these are for you." He said remembering the flowers and then handing them to her before taking a seat at the foot of the bed

"Oh sweetie, thanks you." She replied and then gently pulled him towards her so she could kiss his cheek.

Eric smiled happy to see how happy his mom was. She actually even looked abit healthier, "Your welcome, Mom."

"They are so beautiful, Eric." She said as she smelled the bouquet, her smile never fading, "And pink carnation. One of my favorite flowers."

"Yeah I know." He nodded, "I remember I use to give you some every Mother's day when I was a kid."

"And even when you grew up." She added.

It was true, though Eric hadn't always made it to Point Place to celebrate Mother's Day, he always made it a point to call the town florist and set up the delivery of pink carnations to the Forman Household.

"So you did get them."

"Of course I did." Kitty nodded, "And I called you to thank you but you were never there."

Eric's grin started to fade away, as a reminder of how he was a good son turned into a remind of how he wasn't so great either.

"Oh yeah, well you know Sunday's the day I do my grading." He explained "The Monday's school and stuff."

Kitty nodded understandingly, "You know something?" she asked grabbing her son's attention right away, "Pink carnations were never one of my favorites until the Mother's Day that you were five and Laurie was six and the two of you bought me that big bouquet."

Eric smiled at the memory and felt a sense of pride. He'd been the one who said to go with the pink carnations. Laurie wanted to give her some daisies.

"So," Kitty began to say until she was interrupted.

"Mom, I'm sorry."

Kitty furrowed her brow at her son, "For what sweetie?"

"For…a lot of things." Eric answered looking down at he blanket her was sitting on, "I've messed up a lot and I've done thing I shouldn't have done and didn't do things that I should have. And I'm sorry for them all."

"Eric, honey it's ok. I know you…"

"No Mom." Eric interrupted again, this time looking up at her "I know you probably know all the things that I'm sorry for, but I need to say them all. Say how sorry I am…I want to say how sorry I am for all of them."

"Ok, sweetie." Kitty nodded before grabbing his right hand.

"Ok." Eric repeated before taking a deep breath. This could take awhile.

"I'm sorry for not coming home for Mother's Day all those years. I'm sorry for moving to Seattle, for being so far away from you. I'm sorry for not calling you as often as I should have. I'm sorry for not being with you when you were in the hospital for the surgeries and the treatments." He told her as he squeezed the hand she had put over his.

"I'm sorry for not visiting you when you were sick." Eric continued, "I'm sorry I wasn't around as much as I should've been. I'm sorry for have that 'Two Days Plan.' I'm sorry for making an award seem more important than you."

By this time Eric could feel his emotions and his tears starting to build up on him. And his mother could see it as well, she wanted nothing more than to take him in her arms and comfort him, but he insisted on going on.

"I'm sorry for almost not coming. I'm sorry for running out when you were in pain and not saying anything. I'm sorry for making you think you weren't a good mom. Because you a good mom, you're the greatest mom I could ever as for." He went on, his tears now falling down his cheeks, "And I'm sorry for not telling you that more."

With that said Eric stopped talking because he couldn't seem to find the strength to go on, and let his tears fall freely before dropping himself onto Kitty and hugging onto her tightly.

Hearing her Baby Boy crying, broke her heart caused a few tears to form under Kitty's own eyes.

"Eric sweetie, it's ok." She said to him softly, hugging him back.

Eric gripped onto her tighter and noticed how he could feel her bones and it upset him even more.

"Shh, honey." Kitty whispered as she rubbed her hand on Eric's back, "Don't cry sweetie."

As she tried her best to comfort him and stop his crying, Kitty was reminded of how she used to do this when he was a little boy. Of course this was much worse than Laurie calling him a name or him getting a scraped knee. Still, she thought the way she had stopped his crying before was worth another try.

"_You are my sunshine, my only sunshine_." She softly began to sing and Eric slowly started to calm down. Just like when he was little. Kitty smiled at that fact and went on with the song, "_You make me happy when skies are gray_."

Carefully Eric pulled out his mother's arms and began to sing in the melody he knew by heart by the time he was five.

"_You'll never know dear how much I love you,"_ they sang together, both smiling slightly _"please don't take my sunshine away_."

When the song was over Eric leaned down and hugged his mother again, this time with no tears.

"I love you, Mom." He whispered.

Kitty smiled and tightened her grip on her son.

"I love you too, Eric."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__There you are my friends, Chapter 17 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Who called Uncle Marty? Were there any other phone calls made? Now that Eric has seen Kitty and apologized will things get better? Is Red almost home? And was that good luck kiss really just nothing? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	19. But It Better Be Soon

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing._

_**Author's Note: **__Hello All! Sorry for not updating yesterday, you probably won't believe this but I didn't realize it was Monday until like seven o'clock at night and the chapter still wasn't ready to go. That's the bad thing about summer, you loose track of your days. Quick notes: I am not a doctor nor am I planning on being one. Did have a doctor's apt this last week but cancelled it cause I felt better! Sorry this chapter is a bit shorter than the other, I finally got over my writers block on "meet the Hydes" so I was working on that. But I don't think I would call this chapter a filler chapter. It does have a few important stuff. Anywoo thanks for the reviews you all, they really mean so much to me! Oh an did you guys realize that this is like only day four of everyone being there? Just thought I'd point that out cause I just realized that lol Any woo thanks for reading and enjoy!_

* * *

"_And this is the backyard. But you probably already knew that and have seen it." Kitty said giggling as she welcomed Hyde and the camera into the blooming backyard of the Forman's. Suddenly her smile faded some, "Unless Red sold the house and in that case, Red Forman, you are in big trouble the next time you see me."_

"_Why'd you wanna film out here?" Hyde asked, changing the conversation._

_It was bad enough thinking about Kitty not being around anymore. Thinking about what it would be like with neither Kitty nor Red here was just too painful._

"_Oh right, well I wanted to show you some of the plants back here." Kitty stated, her smile now back on her face, "These plants mean a lot to me and some of them I really do hold close to my heart."_

_Hyde moved the camera, following Kitty as she walked over to the medium sized bush by the white-picket fence. _

"_This rose bush was planted over twenty five years ago. During the same week that Red and I first moved into the house." Kitty explained and then touched one of the blooming red roses, "And every year for our anniversary and sometimes on Valentines Day, Red cuts a few of the roses and brings them to me."_

"_It does seem a bit cheap." She said moving her eyes from the flower, "But it shows that he always remembers."_

_Hyde smirked at how much of a softie his surrogate father could be, as he filmed Kitty walking over to the big oak tree by the house._

"_The day we bought Laurie home from the hospital was when we planted this tree." Kitty explained, smiling as she placed her palm on the trunk of the tree and began to think about the daughter she hadn't seem in years._

"_Yeah," Hyde agreed, seeing how bother Kitty seemed to be, "but unlike Laurie, the tree's still here."_

_Kitty frowned and slightly scolded, "Steven."_

"_What? I could've said something about the tree being the way she'd sneak out guys into her room."_

_Shaking her head, Kitty took a few steps over to the outside wall of the house. There a bundle of different flowers were blooming. The one Kitty seemed to pay closer attention were in a bigger bunch. The flowers almost looked like daisies but had petals the color of blue and not white._

"_These are asters." Kitty shared, "We planted those when Eric was born. They're the flowers that represent the month he was born in."_

"_Forman and flowers, nice call." Hyde commented with a smirk as he zoomed in on the flowers._

"_Steven." Kitty called out, getting Hyde attention right away._

"_What?" he asked moving the camera away from the flowers and a few feet away to where Kitty was standing by some dark purple colored flowers, that were tiny but grew in big bunches on one stem that was taller than the others._

_Kitty smiled at the camera before speaking, "These are flowers are larkspurs. We planted them in July a few years back. The same month we took you in."_

"_You guys planted theses flowers for me?" Hyde asked in disbelief._

"_Well of course." Kitty said with a smile, "You're one of my babies, and I would have planted flowers and other plants for my babies but then our back yard would have looked like a jungle." _

_As Kitty giggled, Hyde zoomed in on the bundle of flowers Kitty had finished talking about._

_He smirked still not quite believing it, "I've got some flowers."_

_0o0o0o_

It had been an hour or two since Eric had gone up to see Kitty and he still hadn't come out of the room. Or at least no one had seen him come out of the room. No one being Hyde, who'd practically guarded the living room stairway to ensure Eric didn't try to escape.

Jackie had tried to get him to move away from the steps by reminding him that Eric really did want to see his mother and he had told them both this, but it didn't help. So she had to physically drag Hyde into the kitchen and keep him entertained by playing with a deck of cards.

Since they'd spend a lot of time in hospitals and in waiting rooms with Kitty being sick, they always had a deck near by and Red had taught them both several different card games he'd learned during the war.

"Your turn." Jackie called out.

Hyde furrowed his brow as he looked down at his hand of card, he then looked back at Jackie, "What were we playing?"

"I don't know." She said looking back at him , "I was hopping you'd know."

Hyde shook his head and then placed his cards face down on the kitchen table where they were sitting. Jackie saw his actions and immediately, a smile sprung to her face and she nearly jumped out of her chair.

"I win!" she called out and Hyde deepened his frown.

"I thought you didn't know what we were playing."

"I don't." she agreed with a small shrug, "But you gave up and so that means I win."

Hyde just shook his head again, trying his best not to smile. Meanwhile Jackie did nothing to hide her smile and continued to let it grow as she gathered the cards again.

Just as Jackie had begun to shuffle the card, Hyde took them out of her hands. Red had not only taught Jackie how to play a few new games, he'd also taught her a few ways to cheat and beat Hyde. Jackie pouted slightly and leaned back in her seat, but was ignored by Hyde when the kitchen door swung open.

"Hey you guys."

"Forman, man, what are you doing down here?" Hyde asked forgetting about the deck.

"Hyde, don't worry." Eric assured as he walked over to the two, "Mom knows I'm down here. She's asleep right now and…"

"How does she know you're down here if she's asleep?" Hyde asked with a raised eyebrow.

Eric held back a laugh, but had to smile, when he saw Jackie do the same. She seemed to notice how Hyde was acting like Kelso or Fez, but Eric wondered if Hyde realized it himself.

"I told her I was gonna go downstairs a few minutes before she fell asleep and she said ok."

Hyde's face feel, "Oh."

"So how did it go?" Jackie asked with a smile.

"It went pretty good." Eric nodded at the brunette, "We got to visit and spend time with each other. We talked and I guess Mom wasn't as mad at me as I thought she was…or at least she forgave me a lot quicker than I thought."

Jackie looked up at him with reassuring eyes, "Eric, your mother was never mad at you."

"Yeah, but I still had to apologize for a few things." Eric replied, "And I'm glad I did. I'm glad I stayed."

Jackie's smile grew, seeing how much happier Eric seemed. "We're glad you stayed too, right Steven?"

Hyde muttered something as he started dealing the cards between him and Jackie. Jackie watched him and knew he was glad that Eric was here, but wouldn't come right out and say it.

"For Mom's sake." She added, keeping her eyes on her ex-boyfriend.

Hyde looked up from the cards and over at Jackie, who gave him a look that showed she knew she was right. Hyde sighed and picked up his cards.

"Yeah, for Mom's sake."

Jackie couldn't stop smiling and Eric had to join in as he watched her. Her smile was contagious, it was beautiful, she was beautiful.

Wait he shouldn't be thinking of Jackie like that, of course she was beautiful, she was gorgeous really…there he went again. Quickly not wanting his thoughts to continue on this path, Eric stopped looking at Jackie and followed her eyes to his adopted brother.

Feeling uncomfortable, like he was being watched, Hyde looked up from his cards and found the two gawking at him.

"If the two of you are done staring at me, I'd like to start the game Jackie." he ordered more than suggested.

Jackie rolled her eyes before grabbing her hand of cards. He didn't even know what game they were playing. Lifting the cards to her eye level, she then realized she didn't have any clue either.

"Hey Jackie, you've got a pretty good hand if you guys were playing poker." Eric shared after taking a peak at her cards.

Jackie looked back down at her hand and saw the five red diamond cards; three, four, five, six, and seven. A straight flush! With her grin back in its place, Jackie looked up at Eric.

"Eric, you are absolutely right. And we are playing poker." Jackie announced causing Hyde to frown.

"Jackie, we never even said…" Hyde began to argue but it was too late.

"I win!"

The tiny brunette happily placed the cards on the table and clapped her hands with joy despite Hyde's annoyed expression. Seeing Jackie in her cheerful mood, made Eric's spirits rise up a bit too; though he still couldn't explain why.

"Forman man," Hyde called out, breaking Eric from his thoughts "you still play poker?"

"Uh yeah, sometimes." Eric nodded, feeling abit nervous. Things still weren't a hundred percent good between him and Hyde, so he knew he had to be careful about what he said.

"In the teachers lounge they play every so often. But we don't play for money, we play for grading papers. Loser grades the other's student's papers." Eric explained to the two, "I like grading my kids papers though so I don't really play as much. Do kind of miss the game though."

Hyde nodded, "Man Forman, that sounded pretty lame." He stated and Eric smiled and nodded, know just how boring it did sound, "Maybe while you're here, on one of Mom's good nights, we can have a game. We'll get Kelso and Fez in on it too."

"Yeah." Eric agreed as he smile grew, "It'll be just like the old days."

"Actually I was saying to invite them so there's more money for me to win," Hyde said with a smirk, "but yeah that'll be like the old days too."

Jackie watched the scene with her excitement practically bubbling inside of her. It was so great to see the two men being civil to each other and putting an effort to get things back to the way things were before. It was even more exciting because one of those men was Steven Hyde, Mr. Zen Man.

"You guys, I just want you to know that it really make me so happy to see that you guys are getting along like this." Jackie shared with the two men infront of her, "Especially because it's all thanks to yours truly."

Eric's brows knitted together as he stared back at the smiling Jackie, holding back his own grin, "Jackie…"

"No, it's ok." She said lifting her hands in the air to stop Eric from saying more, "No 'thank you's are need. But do remember, I like sparkly stuff."

"Deal the cards, Jackie." Hyde ordered.

Smiling as she did so, Jackie began passing out the cards to herself and Hyde. Eric looked on and suddenly felt out of place for some odd reason.

"Um so is it my turn to get dinner?" he asked, looking for something to do, "Cause I can go get it now and…"

Jackie shook her head, trying to keep track of the cards, "No, you stayed with mom today so you don' have to buy anything till tomorrow." She explained, "Brooke and Kelso are getting dinner tonight."

"Oh ok." Eric nodded, "Well where are they? Maybe I could give a few suggestions."

"Forman, this is Point Place we only have about six take out places here." Hyde said as he watched Jackie carefully, making sure she made no attempt to cheat, "Besides Fez and them went shopping a few minutes ago."

"Oh." Eric said, his face falling as he realized what the only option he had left was, "Guess I could go down to the basement and watch some TV."

"Donna and Randy are down there." Jackie informed before Eric could take another step to the basement door.

"Oh…well…um that's ok. I guess I could spend some time with them." He said trying to sound convincing.

He didn't want to go to the basement and sit there alone. Of course he didn't want to be down there with just Donna and Randy down there, either. Very slowly, Eric began to walk to the old hang out. Maybe if he walked slowly enough, Kelso and Fez would be back before he reached the basement.

"Forman."

Eric stopped in his tracks and turned around when he heard Hyde's voice call out to him.

"You can just watch TV in the living room." The curly haired man pointed out, before feeling a sharp object collide with his shin, "Ow! Jackie what the hell was that for?"

"Eric," she began ignoring Hyde completely, "I think what Steven is trying to say is you don't have to go down to the basement, you could stay here with us and get in on the game. Right Steven?"

"Yeah right." Hyde said in a tone that showed he didn't have much interest in the conversation, while looking down at his cards, "Jackie, I'm missing a card."

Ignoring Hyde once again, Jackie turned to Eric and smiled, "Come on."

Her smile was starting to send shivers down his spine—the good kind of shivers though. But this was getting to be too much to handle. He decided to decline the invitation.

"No, it's ok." He began, "I don't wanna interrupt anything."

"You're not interrupting anything. Now come on, sit down."

"No really I'm…"

"What wrong Forman?" Jackie asked interrupting him in an almost mocking tone, "Are you scared to loose to a girl?"

Eric titled his head to the side abit, "Oh you seem so sure of yourself. We'll see about that, _Beulah_."

The mocking smile Jackie wore soon disappeared and her face went blank before a determined glare appeared, "Oh it is so on."

Hyde looked up from his hand of cards and watched the sight infront of him. He frowned slightly at how this argument was slightly different from the ones Eric and Jackie use to have. And then yesterday with the movie. He shook it off and decided to see this competitive argument as a good thing. It was showing that some things stayed the same.

As Jackie dealt Eric his share of the cards and Eric finally took a seat at the kitchen table, the kitchen phone let out a loud ring breaking the comfortable silence the three had fallen into.

Jackie turned to Eric, "Get the phone."

"Me? Why me?"

"Last person to sit down, gets the door, phone, microwave whatever beeps." Hyde stated, "New rule."

Eric sighed and stood up on his feet again, "Fine." He walked to the yellow phone before turning back around and pointing at Jackie, "But I'm watching you and the cards!"

"Why doesn't anyone trust me?" Jackie asked.

Eric didn't get to answer or hear Hyde's answer to the question. He'd already picked up the receiver and placed it against his ear.

"Forman residence." He said rather quickly, wanting to go back to the card game.

"Eric?"

Eric's eyes bulged out as he heard his father's voice call out his name from the other end of the line. Panicking already, Eric pulled the phone away from his ear, covered the mouth piece with his hand and turned to Hyde and Jackie. He tired to tell them who it was, but he couldn't find the words.

"I….the…the…"Eric struggled saying a few words, both Hyde and Jackie were sure he'd made up.

"Speak, Lassie." Hyde commanded in a joking voice.

But Jackie could see how serious this moment was, by just look in Eric's eyes.

"Eric, what's wrong?"

At last finding his voice, Eric spoke, "Red's on the phone."

The four words caused Hyde and Jackie to jump out of their seats, forgetting all about the card game.

"Shit." Hyde cursed, realizing that Red might have recognized Eric voice. What was he doing calling now it was only… he looked down at his watch and saw that the time was forty twenty-five.

"Shit." He said again, "Jackie, you've gotta get to the airport you're already late."

"Got it." Jackie nodded and grabbed the Toyota keys off the counter before dashing out the door.

Hyde turned to Eric, who still looked alarmed. "Forman, give me the phone."

Eric didn't need to be told twice. He almost threw the phone at Hyde, luckily Hyde had caught the receiver. He took a deep breath before placing the phone against his ear.

"Hey, Red." He greeted, hoping he sounded causal.

Red frowned on the other end, "Steven? Where's Eric?"

"Um I don't know." Hyde shrugged, "Seattle, I guess. I mean that's where he lives isn't it?"

"I thought I heard…never mind." He gruffly said with a shake of his head, he had more important things to talk about.

Hyde felt a wave of relief; that was a lot easier than he thought it was going to be. However his feeling of relief didn't last very long as Red began to speak again.

"Where's Jackie?"

"She on her way." Hyde answered, which wasn't a lie. "She left about thirty minutes ago really, but you know it's kinda a long way to the airport and then all the traffic…"

"Right." Red nodded not sounding very convinced, "The traffic getting out of the driveway is always packed around this time."

Hyde frowned, "What? No, she'd not in the driveway she…"

"Steven, go get Jackie back into the house." He ordered.

Feeling confused, Hyde turned over to Eric who was still standing at his side.

"Go get Jackie." he whispered so Red couldn't hear.

Eric nodded once before running to the glass door. He pushed the door to the side and waved Jackie back inside—luckily she hadn't even started the vehicle. Not five seconds later, Jackie was inside standing by Eric and looking between him and Hyde.

"What's going on?" she asked.

Eric shrugged, "I don't know."

"Alright Red, she's here." Hyde said into the phone, not paying the two any attention, "What's going on?"

Red exhaled a deep sigh, "I'm stuck in Chicago."

"What?" Hyde asked with knitted brows, "I thought you said it was a one way trip."

"It was, but the damn snow caused some emergency landing crap." Red explained, "I'm calling off one of the pay phones in the airport. They don't know how long it'll be before we get back in the air."

"What …what are you gonna do, man?" Hyde asked trying not too sound worried; but he was. Red still wasn't home and Kitty was getting worse.

"I don't know." Red replied as he shook his head, "I'm getting so desperate I'm thinking about looking up the kettle head and asking him for a ride."

Hyde nodded along, until he understood just what Red was saying. The kettle head, that was Kelso. And Kelso did live there. But he was in Point place right now, not in Chicago.

"No!" Hyde almost shouted confusing the audience in the kitchen even more, "I mean, no. you don't wanna call Kelso, he's Kelso."

"Steven, I need to get home." Red reminded in his stern voice, "I need to get to Kitty."

"I know, Red." Hyde said, he really did understand that Red wanted to come home as fast as he could, but he couldn't find out about the Kelso and Fez being here just yet.

"But think about it man, you could get lost trying to look for Kelso, and then we wouldn't be able to get in touch with you." Hyde pointed out, "And even if you do find Kelso and get a ride, with Kelso driving he'll probably get both of you guys lost."

Red sighed and rubbed his eyes, "I guess you're right. And Tonto would probably want to come along too. I'd walk to Point Place before getting in the car with those two dumbasses."

"Yeah, I know." Hyde said as he smirked at the thought, "Look Red, I've got an idea. Mom's got Kelso's number around here, I'll call them up and tell them your stuck there and might need a ride. You stay there at the airport for awhile longer to see if there's any news on your flight. Once you hear something, you call me and tell me you've got the flight or to call Kelso and tell him to pick you up."

"Fine." Red muttered, not exactly thrilled with the idea, but he knew there was really no other option.

He had just checked his wallet to see if he had enough cash to rent a car and drive himself, but he come out more than short of a few dollars. He closed the pocket that held his cash, but before he shut the entire wallet he caught the glimpse of the small photo in the photo holder. He stopped himself from closing the wallet and looked down at the photo.

It was a picture of Kitty that had been taken not too long ago. She was sitting at the table in the kitchen, smiling with a cup of coffee next to her. It looked like any normal day, which was one of the reasons Red carried around the photo. One the kids must have take it, he was guessing Jackie as he could see Hyde's hand on the kitchen table. She'd also been the one to cut it out into a wallet size for him.

"How's she doing, Steven?"

"Mom's doing ok." Hyde confirmed, "We're keeping her happy and comfortable."

Red nodded, his gaze still on Kitty's smiling face, "Good."

Hyde nodded his head, knowing Red wasn't completely convinced, "Red man, don't worry. We'll take care of her until you get here."

"You better." Red replied in a gruff voice, but not as gruff as it usually was Hyde noticed.

Red cleared his throat and closed up his wallet, "Well I don't want to use up all of my change."

"Right yeah, ok." Hyde agreed, "Call us when you hear something ok? Alright, bye."

Hyde placed the yellow receiver back on it's hook ending the call with his surrogate father. He turned around and was faced with two wide eyed, curious expressions.

"Well?" Jackie asked the suspense killing her, "What happened?"

"He's stuck in Chicago." Hyde said with a sigh.

A smile just about sprung to Eric's lips. His ass was saved for another day! Then he looked over at Jackie and saw how upset she looked and then he remembered his mother. She probably wanted to see Red and he probably felt the same.

"But he's coming home soon, right?" Eric asked, hoping only for his mother's sake.

Hyde ignored Eric's question and remained silent. Jackie wasn't going to take that as an answer though.

"Steven," she called raising her voice some, "when's Red coming back?"

"I don't know. He doesn't know." Hyde said shaking his head and then stopping to look at them both, "But it better be soon."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__And that my friends is Chapter 18 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_When is Red coming home? What will happen when he finds out about the guest in his house? Why does Eric smile when ever Jackie smiles? Will the guys have their poker night? Will Randy be invited? And what card game will Hyde, Jackie, and Eric play now?_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	20. It's Not Important

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone! I know, I know, I'm late. And really I have no good excuse this time. I was just lazy and didn't feel like working on the chapter. Summer time blues maybe. It's one of the worst parts about summer. All the sleeping and then realizing, 'Holy Cow I haven't done anything!' Sorry for the wait and I hope you can forgive me. Quick notes, remember I am not a doctor or a nurse or anyone who works at a hospital or near a hospital. Thanks for the reviews guys I really appreciate them and I hope you keep them coming! And sorry fro the wait once again. Enjoy!_

* * *

_After showing the back yard and the rest of the house, Kitty was once again sitting on the living room sofa answering the question her surrogate son had given her._

"_I love traveling. It's so exciting seeing the different places and meeting all sorts of people." She explained to the camera with a big smile, "When Red and I first got married we had plans of traveling to all sorts of places. I wanted to see the different cities and Red could get his corvette."_

"_Why didn't you go?" Hyde questioned, "What happened?"_

"_Kitty got pregnant." Red answered from his seat in the armchair._

_Kitty glared slightly at her husband, "Oh so it's all my fault?" she asked a bit angrily, "When you were the one who came into the kitchen and started kissing my neck, you know…."_

"_Ok!" Hyde practically shouted, stopping Kitty from saying more, "Let's not scar these kids that haven't even been born yet." He took a few seconds to think of his next question, "If you could choose anywhere to travel to, where would it be?"_

"_Oh you know, I always thought it would be so much fun to get one of those RV's and take long road trips with all of you kids." She said happily, "Doesn't that sound like fun?"_

_Hyde smirked at the thought. It probably wouldn't be a fun as Kitty had it pictured in her head, but something told him it would've been pretty memorable. Maybe not for the greatest reasons, but still unforgettable._

_Kitty smiled as she went on, "I've always wanted to go to California, or Hawaii… and Florida too. Ooh and Texas. Those people know how to square dance." She finished with a giggle._

"_Any places out of the states?"_

"_Well, sure. There's Italy oh and the city of love Paris. Of course Red would never take me because of the foreigners…but over there they wouldn't really be foreigners."_

_Kitty began to drift off and Hyde quickly became concerned._

"_Mom, you ok?" he asked._

_When Kitty looked up at him with a small grin back on her face, Hyde knew he had worried for nothing._

"_You know if I could visit any place right now, I would have to pick Seattle." She informed him._

"_To go see Eric." Hyde stated more than questioned._

_Kitty nodded, "Exactly. You know it's been over three years and I've only seen his apartment in pictures." She continued, "I need to make sure that place is safe for my baby to live in."_

_0o0o0o_

"So now he's stuck in Chicago?" Donna asked before using her chopsticks to pick up a piece of compow chicken from the carton.

The group was sitting around the kitchen table, having brought extra seats up from the basement. Hyde had just finished informing them all about the phone call he'd gotten earlier from Red as they ate their take –out dinner.

Brooke and Kelso, with Fez as well, had picked up Chinese food from the small Chinese restaurant in town. They'd even brought chopsticks, upon Kelso's requests—despite the fact he didn't know how to use them. And Fez had insisted they get fortune cookies too, forgetting the incident in Chicago where he'd accident eaten his fortune.

"Yup. Don't know for how long either." Hyde nodded, "Still haven't heard back from him."

"It can take a long while for those planes to get back up in the air." Randy commented, "One time I was taking my grandma to see her cousin down in Florida. Our plane got delayed for two days in Tennessee. And just when we were getting ready to get on a plane back to Wisconsin our other flight got the okay. But by the time we got to Grandma's cousin she had died."

Randy didn't exactly realize that he should have kept that last part to himself until he saw the faces around the table.

To his right, Donna glaring a deep angry glare at him, then it was Jackie whose face and eyes showed her worry. Eric looked at him with a blank expression, not believing he'd heard right, while Hyde kept a Zen expression on his face.

The people sitting on his left didn't look too happy either. Fez looked almost like a deer caught in the headlights, and Betsy seemed to pay no attention and seemed more interested in the two wooden sticks in her hands. Kelso's jaw had fallen open and his wife's expression looked very similar to Jackie's.

"Sorry." The feathered haired man said, feeling guilty, "I didn't mean…"

"Don't worry 'bout it, man." Hyde interrupted, surprising the individuals in the room, "Red's doing everything to get here as soon as he can. He was even gonna try and get a ride from you Kelso."

"Haha good thing I'm not in Chicago! I'm safe here!" Kelso said with a big grin on his face as he stabbed his chicken with both his sticks, suddenly his grin faded. "Wait, no I'm not! Cause what if Red goes to our place to get a ride and I'm not there? He's gonna get pissed!"

"Michael!" Brooke slightly scolded him for cursing infront of their daughter.

"Brooke, this is serious! I already knew Red was gonna be mad when he saw me here, but since I wasn't there to give him a ride over here, he's gonna like kill me!" he announced to the table, getting more and more frightened, "I'm…I'm…I'm…I'm screwed!"

"Michael!" Brooke said again wile Kelso's pattern crime laughed away.

"Yes, you are my friend." The foreign man said pointing his finger at him, "You…wait what if Red goes to my apartment? He knows I live next-door to you!"

Fez joined Kelso in panicking, recreating a scene similar to the one from last night. However this time, Fez seemed to calm himself early on as he came to a realization.

"No Red will not go to my apartment. He does not like me." Fez said with a smile that dropped a second or two after saying this, "Nobody likes poor Fez."

"I like you Uncle Fez!" Betsy called out happily, before Fez's friends could say anything.

Fez's smile returned to his face as he hugged the little girl back, "Oh and I like you too Little Betsy-Boop."

The thought of Red killing him or doing anything painful to him, left Kelso's mind as he watched Fez tap the tip of Betsy's nose, causing his daughter to giggle.

"Ahem!" Kelso said loudly, getting everyone including Fez's attention, "Hands off my daughter!" he said raising his chopstick like a gun.

The group watched on if they weren't fighting back a laugh, they were giving strange looks to both men. Fez at first was confused at what his friend was talking about, but then remembered something he wanted.

"Gimme my fortune cookie!" he demanded lifting up his own stick.

"Boys." Brooke warned both grown men, and then looked back at Hyde, "Did you tell Red about us being here?"

"No way." Hyde replied, "That'll only make him more upset about this whole thing. I told him I had your number here and for him to just stay at the airport a while longer. That way he could…"

As Hyde went on to repeat the plan he'd already told her and Eric, Jackie turned her attention to the man sitting next to him. He'd been pretty talkative with the her and the guys early in the meal, but when the subject of Red came up, he suddenly became mute.

"Hey." She said in almost a whisper as she nudged his shoulder, "You okay?"

Eric looked up at her, "Who me? Yeah, I'm good." He replied trying to look and sound like he was, but son realized there was really no point, "I was just thinking about Red coming back home. I know you said everything would be ok, but I just can't help but be a little scared. I mean cause…well cause it's Red."

Jackie stifled a giggle. So far no one had heard their conversation and she wanted to keep it that way.

"I know, but you've just gotta be confident and…" she drifted off for a second or two as she searched for some type of metaphor. "Think about when Luke Skywalker had to face Darth Vader."

Instantly Eric's eyes lit up, "I can do that!" he said excitedly, "Oh and Darth Vader is Luke's father and…"

"Okay go upstairs." Jackie ordered and Eric frowned.

"What?" he asked confused, "You were the one who started talking about Star wars. You should know it's not easy for me to just stop talking about it like that!"

"Fine." Jackie said with a shrug, "I just thought maybe you'd like to brush your teeth or change your clothes."

The urge to continue arguing with her, soon left Eric as he heard what she'd said. His luggage! He'd spent time with his mom today so he was getting his things back. He wanted to change out of his shirt, but what he really wanted to do was brush his teeth. He hadn't had so much gum since he was kid at Halloween time.

Without another thought Eric stood up from his chair and yawned and stretched.

"Well I think I'm gonna get ready for bed. Night guys." He announced as he headed for the door, "Thanks for dinner, Brooke, Kelso."

"And Fez!" Fez called out angrily after Eric was already in the next room. "Nobody remembers poor Fez."

Jackie shook her head at both of her friends; not able to decide who was more ridiculous. She didn't really want to, but the main reason was because she had a more important decision to think about right now.

0o0o0o

Eric entered his sister's old room hoping to find his suitcase on top of Jackie's bed waiting for him. But when he practically ran in, he saw the room was just as he'd left it earlier before seeing his mom. No suitcases in sight.

Frowning slightly Eric began to look around the room, not moving too many things but just enough to see if Jackie had hidden his bags from him again.

He bent down to the floor to look under the bed, but found the space empty. Well except for a few pointy shoes. He sat himself up, but remained on the floor. The way Jackie had said to come upstairs, it sounded like his things were waiting for him. They had to be here somewhere, but where?

Eric started to rack his brain while looking around the purple room, trying to get a glimpse of one of his bags.

His head stopped its turning when his eyes landed on the nightstand that held the "Little Women" book. This time he wasn't paying attention to the novel; and he didn't find any of his luggage either. What had his attention was at the bottom of the nightstand were several tall books.

Eric gave into his curious and scooted closer to the collection. Being closer, he was able to read the titles on some of the books bind. There were only four of them and they each said 'Point Place High School' along with the years 1975 to '79.

Eric smirked and reached his hand for the yearbook of '78. He hadn't seen these things in awhile. He pulled the edge of the book towards him, but stopped when a hidden medium sized envelop fell out from between yearbooks '78 and '79.

His senior yearbook was soon forgotten and Eric paid close attention to the envelop. It was too big to be a letter, but was small enough to go unnoticed on the shelf.

Eric carefully stood up, the envelop still in his hands; he turned around to make sure no one was there and then took a seat on the bed.

Ever so carefully, Eric opened up the package that hadn't been sealed. His frown still in its place, Eric reached in and pulled out a stack of photographs. Christmas photographs.

Eric smiled at the first picture. It was of everyone—including Laurie—sitting in the living room. How his mom had gotten them all to sit for the picture, Eric really couldn't remember. He flipped to the next photo and found them all in the same pose, except not so surprising Laurie wasn't there. The next photo had even less people as Kelso and Fez had both disappeared.

With the next Christmas picture Donna became the missing link and it saddened Eric. Not so much because Donna wasn't there but because he knew that was the last Christmas photo he'd take on that couch. Of course he came to visit for Christmas, but these photos were taken before Christmas, so they'd be sent out with the Christmas cards. After he moved to Seattle he never made it to another one.

As he put the photo with just him, Hyde, and Jackie with his parents to the back of the stack he saw a photo of just Hyde and Jackie with his mom and dad. There were two or three more photos he looked at quickly before stopping to stare at one.

The photograph had the same four people in the same living room setting, but there was something different with his mom. Several things different. This had to have been when she had been feeling her worse. She looked thinner and fragile, like she did now, but in the picture she had a festive scarf tied over her head. She looked so different from all the other photos, but there was one thing that had stayed the same;; her smile.

"Yeah, I was surprised we took a picture that year too."

Eric jumped up in surprise, now knowing what they meant by 'jumping out of their own skin.' He turned around and found Jackie smirking up at him.

"Jesus, Jackie!" he said still trying to calm himself, "Do you realize how scary that was? Oh yeah you do, you look at yourself in the mirror everyday." He said jokingly.

Jackie snarled slightly while shaking her head. She knew he was only joking and he had been the one snooping through her stuff. She was going to get him back good.

"Ok fine." She said standing up but keeping her hands behind her back, "I guess you don't want your stuff back."

"What? No!" Eric shouted, "I'm sorry, I am."

"What do you want?"

"Um…my stuff?" he said, not sure of what she was asking exactly.

Jackie grinned, "Say it."

"I want my stuff back." Eric said.

"Say it and add the magic word and my name."

Eric rolled his eyes, "I want my stuff back, please Jackie."

"Jackie, who?" the tiny brunette asked with a mischievous grin.

"I want my stuff back, please Jackie the beautiful."

Eric was surprised by his answer just as much as Jackie was. However both of them tried their best not to show it.

"I was going for 'The Great' but that works too." Jackie stated, "Here."

She then proceeded to throw a small object in the air towards Eric. A second later it was in his hands and Eric frowned down at it

"What's this?" he asked lifting up his toothbrush.

"Eric, it hasn't been that long." Jackie began, and then started speaking slowly, "This is a toothbrush, you use it to brush your teeth and get rid of that bad breath. Gum can only do so much."

Eric frowned, was she burning him? He shook his head; he couldn't be bothered with that now. Besides he'd gotten her pretty good with the mirror thing.

"I know this is my toothbrush, Jackie, but where's my other stuff?"

Jackie shook her head a smirk playing n her lips, "You'll get it later. Remember every time you spend time with your mom you get a _piece_ of your luggage. There's your first piece."

"Piece?" Eric asked lifting up the brush again, "Jackie this isn't a piece! This isn't even a crumb!"

"Should've read the fine print a little better, Eric." She replied with a tile of her head.

Eric looked at her as if she were crazy, "There was no _fine print_ for me to read. There was no _print!_"

"Because you didn't look for it." Jackie replied in a sing song tone.

"I…this is dumb!" Eric argued throwing his hands in the air, "This is a dumb idea and I didn't agree to it."

"Yes you did." Jackie answered, "And it is not a dumb idea."

Eric took a step closer to the small young woman, as if challenging her, "Uh I think it is."

"And I say it isn't." Jackie retorted moving herself closer to him.

"I say it is." Eric said taking another step to her.

Jackie did the same, "It is not."

By now they were merely a few inches from each other. Jackie was looking up at his green eyes and Eric was staring down at her mismatched ones. Being so close to each other and the intimate action was enough to get them both to forget what exactly they were arguing about and just staring into the other's eyes.

"Hey Forman."

The familiar male voice startled to duo and the quickly backed away from each other just before Hyde walked into the room.

"Jackie?" he asked sounding slightly confused, "What are you doing up here?"

"Nothing. Nothing." Jackie replied, not looking at Steven, "I was just talking to Eric about something. Right Eric?"

"Um yeah." Eric nodded quickly, "Right."

"Okay." Hyde said not sure what had been going on before he came in, but he didn't really have time to worry about that. "You mind if I talk to him about something real quick?"

Jackie shook her head in a fast pace, still not meeting Hyde's shaded eyes, which confused Hyde even more; but once again he decided to ignore it.

"Uh Forman listen." Hyde started to say to Eric was trying to not look guilty, "Since there's no way Red's coming in tonight…and Mom is having a pretty good night tonight…and you didn't run off earlier…I was wondering if…you wanted to stay with her tonight?"

This evening was just full of surprises for Eric Forman. He looked back at the man he'd considered a brother for many years, shock covering his face.

"Seriously?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah." Hyde nodded, "I mean you don't have to…"

"No, no, no." Eric was quick to interrupt. "I do. I do wanna stay with Mom. I…thanks Hyde."

Hyde shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah, sure thing man."

"So what do I do?" Eric asked sounding excited, "Can I go in now or do I have to wait or…"

Hyde had to laugh at the slight twitchiness in his friend. He knew that skinny geek was in there somewhere. "Nah, man you can go in now."

"Cool!" Eric grinned and then head out the room, cause Hyde to frown.

"Forman, man." He called out stopping Eric, "Aren't you gonna change?"

"Well you know Hyde, I'd love to but…" he looked over at Jackie, giving her a sideways look, that she instantly caught.

"But he is just so excited, he's just gonna brush his teeth and the head straight to Mom's room." Jackie finished for him.

She hadn't told Steven about her luggage plan, because when she'd come up with it the two men still weren't speaking to each other. It was nice to see that had changed.

Normally Eric would have argued with Jackie or even told Hyde the whole story about Jackie kidnapping his luggage. But she was right, he really did want to brush his teeth. So without another word, Eric just raised up his hand to wave and then ran off to the hallway bathroom.

Hyde's confused frown deepened as he watched Eric's disappearing act, "I'm starting to rethink letting him stay with Mom tonight." He commented to Jackie.

She only shook her head and her smile grew; she knew very well that he didn't mean it."

"Steven, you are so sweet." She told him, no able to look at him again.

"No, I'm not."

Jackie continued to smile, "Sure you are. I mean you're letting Eric stay with Mom tonight because you know how much it means to him."

"No I didn't." Hyde argued, keeping himself Zen, "I just figured you might wanna staying your own bed tonight."

"So you did it for me?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah okay." He sighed, "Not even I would buy that one."

Jackie let out a small laugh that Hyde had to join in on.

"You know, I'm sure Angela would have liked what you did here." Jackie said to him and could almost see the excitement in his shaded eyes.

"Really? You think?" he asked quickly before realizing how lame he sounded. He cleared his throat and then became his Zen self again, "I mean, really? You think."

"Jackie laughed as she nodded. Hyde's frown reappeared as he watched her and was about to defend himself when he remembered something from earlier today.

"Never mind that," He said with a wave of his hand, turning serious once again, "Did you call Red's brother Marty and tell him what's going on?"

Jackie knitted her brows together, "Red has a brother?"

"Yeah, Marty." Hyde repeated, "Did you call him?"

"No, up until now I didn't even know Red had a brother." Jackie informed shaking her head, "Why?"

Hyde frowned with his own confusion. "Um nothing. It's not important."

Jackie's furrowed brow stayed in place as she watched Hyde walk out of the room, still looking deep in thought. Once he was gone though, the tiny brunette closed the door and shrugged her shoulders.

She smiled and walked over to her bed, before lying herself down. She was happy that she was back in her room. She was even happier that Eric would be staying with his mom and spending more time with her. That meant another piece of luggage for him.

Speaking of those pieces of luggage what had been the deal there? Why had they kept moving closer to each other? Why couldn't she tear her eyes away from him? Why had she almost moved closer to him? Why had she felt the urge to kiss him? _Him Eric Forman?_

Jackie shook her head and moved her mind onto something else. What was with this Marty guy? Sure he was Red's brother—apparently—but who had called him? Hyde couldn't have because he asked her. And she didn't even know who he was exactly. Maybe it was someone else who knew he existed. Maybe Eric.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__And that was Chapter 19 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_How will it go with Eric staying the night with Kitty? How will Red get home? Why did Jackie want to Kiss Eric? Did Eric feel the same way? Will Hyde ever catch on to what's going on? And who called Uncle Marty? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	21. I Wanted A Good View

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Holy macaroni! Can you believe it? I updated on a Monday! How long had it been since that happened? Ok I'm sure most of you are reading this Tuesday mornings cause it's so late now, but it could have been Tuesday afternoon. This way you get your coffee and maybe a doughnut and sit back and read the chapter. This is one of the longest chapters I've had in awhile. Usually I don't like to have such long chapters cause of the review counts, but I just couldn't cut anything out. Hope you guys will still review. Quick note: I ma not a doctor or a nurse or anything in the medical field. I did watch and episode of "House" the other day and it was only because Kurtwood Smith was in it. Did help me with ideas for future chaps though. Also thank you so much to my regular reviewers, I love ya! And please don't be shy to leave a first time review now. Just some quick little words mean so much to me. Anywoo enough chit chat, on with the chapter! Enjoy!_

* * *

"_These are all the photo albums you've put together over the years?" Hyde asked as he filmed the stack of, about seven, large books resting on the coffee table._

"_Well of course not." Kitty replied and the camera sung back over to film her, "These are just the ones in the living room, there are still plenty in Red's den."_

_Hyde moved the camera back to the scrapbooks once again for another quick shot before going back to filming Kitty._

"_Why'd you make so many?" he questioned, "I mean there's gotta be a book for each year of our lives."_

_Kitty nodded and smiled, "There is. Some years have more than the others but each year does have it's own album." She explained, "I had to do something with all the photos I took of you kids."_

"_Good to know, we didn't go partially blind for nothing." Hyde commented jokingly, with a nod of his head. _

"_Steven." Kitty said trying to give him a warning look while not smiling, "I also made these scrapbooks for you kids. I thought it would be nice for you all to be able to look back on a few years of your lives whenever you wanted."_

"_I think it'll take a few years of our lives to look through all these albums." He stated earning him a smile from Kitty._

_0o0o0o_

Eric Forman plugged in the flowered percolator in the kitchen downstairs.

While he was happy to have brushed his teeth and that minty taste in his mouth had never tasted so good, he wanted to be alert while he stayed the night with his mom. He wasn't going to drink any of the coffee now but figured it would be a good idea to have it on hand for when he did become a bit drowsy.

Once he saw that the coffee was being prepare, and would hopefully taste better than the instant one Jackie had made him the other day, Eric decided to head on upstairs. He didn't want to make his mom wait and more importantly he didn't want Hyde to find him downstairs and not with her.

He exited the kitchen going through the door that left to the dinning room. Everyone had already said their 'good nights' which meant Donna and Randy were snuggled up on the sofa bed. And while Eric was happy for his ex-girlfriend, he didn't want her happiness shoved in his face. At least going this way would mean the only time he would see the couple was when he was on the staircase and if he could keep his eyes on the steps, he'd be golden.

Eric quickly made his way through the dinning room, not wanting his thoughts to get filled with memories of the holiday family dinners from the past that the room held. When he entered his father's den his pace slowed down a bit and then completely stopped when his eyes landed on the wall of shelves filled with books.

It had been ages since he'd looked through any of those books and after seeing those photos in Jackie's room his curiousness had grown.

And Jackie had told him it was better to talk about other things with Kitty, things that didn't pertain to the cancer or how sick she was. _'It helps keep her mind off it too.'_ She'd reminded him between answering some of the questions he'd written down on that yellow piece of paper.

Without another thought, Eric reached out and grabbed a brown hardcover book and hurriedly made his way upstairs. Forgetting not to look over at Donna and Randy but at the same time never looking in that direction.

A few steps later, Eric found himself in front of his parent's closed bedroom door for the fourth time this week. However unlike the other three times, he didn't feel very nervous at all. He gripped the book closer to his chest with his right arm as he used his left hand to knock on the door and then moved it down to the knob.

"Mom?" he called out in a soft voice as he poked his head into the room.

Kitty looked up from the yellow pad of paper she was writing on and saw her son standing by her bedroom door. She tried not to look too surprised, but really couldn't help it.

"Eric, honey come in, come in." she said waving him in and pushing the notepad to the side, as Eric walked over to her beside—a smile on his face. "What are you doing here, sweetie?"

"Um I'm gonna stay the night with you tonight." He explained to her, before suddenly getting nervous once again, "You know instead of Hyde or Jackie…I mean if that's ok with you. Cause if not I can just go…"

Kitty laughed softly and shook her head at her son's jumpiness, "Eric, sweetie, of course it's ok with me. Why wouldn't it be?"

Though he was sure his mother wasn't really expecting an answer, Eric started to rack his brain for a response. His smile reappeared when he realized he didn't have answer to that question.

"I don't know." He replied with a shrug and a slight grin, "What were you writing?" he asked pointing his finger to the discarded pad.

"Oh nothing." Kitty replied as she waved her hand in the same direction, "Just a couple of my thoughts. It's nothing, really."

"Well you're not going to stay standing up for the whole night are you?" she asked with a smile, as she changed the subject. "Sit down…oh why don't you go change into your pajamas? I'll be fine alone for a few more minutes.

"Uh no, it's ok, Mom." Eric declined her second suggestion as he took a seat in the armchair; he remembered his mom wasn't supposed to know about his condition with Jackie. Though he was sure if she did know, he'd have his stuff back in a second.

"I'm fine, really." He assured.

"Ok." Kitty nodded and smiled before reaching over and grabbing Eric's hand, "You know honey, I'm really sorry about you having to miss all these days of work because of me."

"Mom…" Eric began to protest.

"But," Kitty said, telling him she wasn't quite through, "I'm even happier that you decided to stay." She finished with a smile.

Eric couldn't help but smile back and give his mom's hand a quick soft squeeze, "Me too, Mom."

Kitty let out a small soft giggle as she looked at Eric, her eyes shinning with tears. Then the sight of the brown square resting in Eric's lap caught her attention.

"Eric, what is that?" she asked with a slight frown.

Eric followed her eyes and saw the scrapbook. He let go of his mother's hand and lifted the book up a bit to show Kitty the blank cover.

"Oh it's um a scrapbook I found downstairs in Dad's den." Eric informed, trying not to become nervous again, "I thought maybe we could look through it together. That is if you feel up to it…Hyde told me you were having a good night and all. But I'll understand if you just wanna rest too I was just…

"Eric." Kitty cut in, stopping his rambling, "Even if I was feeling the sickest I've ever felt, I can't think of anything else I'd like to do more than look at old photos of my babies with one of my babies."

Eric took that mean that she did want to go through the album with him. So with a smile on his face scooted closer to his mother and opened the book to the first page of family photos.

0o0o0o

It was an hour later and almost one o'clock in the morning, and yet mother and son had yet to reach the end of the photo album. They hadn't even reached the middle part of the book yet.

Now this album wasn't very thick and it didn't hold a massive number of photos either. But with each photo came a story. A story one of the two would share with the other.

Eric, who had vacated the armchair and made himself comfortable on the bed with his smiling mother, turned to the next page.

"Look there's the tree house." He said pointing at an old photo in the corner of the page.

Kitty followed her son's finger and smiled at the picture. The five children she saw practically everyday when they were younger, were standing infront of the old oak tree that had been there since she and Red had bought the house. Inside the branches of the tree were pieces of wood that had very much formed a little house and hang out for the group.

The group of children were all so much smaller, they couldn't have been more than ten or eleven. They were all smiling large bright smiles, with the exception of Hyde who merely smirked—but just like today, that smirk was saying a lot.

"Man, we were all really sad that day Dad took down that thing." Eric shared out loud.

Kitty nodded, "I know. So was I. And your father too. He had worked so hard on building that tree house for you kids."

"Dad?" he asked confused, "Then why did he tear it down?"

"For the same reason he tells people he's going to shove his foot up their behinds."

"Because he a grumpy bitter mean old man?" Eric asked still not understanding.

"No." Kitty said shaking her head, "Because…only he knows. I don't know why he says those things and I'm still not quite sure why he tore down the tree house, but he knows." She explained before looking at her son very seriously.

"And your father is not a bitter mean old man." She said to him in a firm voice, "He is a very caring kind man, he may not show it very much but he is. And he would do anything for his family, who he loves with all his heart. I need you to always remember that."

Eric nodded, "Ok. I will Mom."

"Good." Kitty said with a smile.

"Hey Mom, I didn't hear you say anything about him not being grumpy though."

"Well that's because," she paused for a second or two, "your father can be a big grouch at times. _At times_."

Eric laughed in agreement with his mother before going back to looking through the scrapbook with her.

"Oh look at Michael." Kitty said with a smile as she pointed her index finger down on a photo of young Michael Kelso grinning and waving with his right hand while his left arm rested in a cast. "That was the time he fell down while trying to climb up on the roof of the house."

"Hey, yeah."

"Why was he trying to get on the roof again?" Kitty asked, as she tried to remember herself.

The memory came a lot quicker to Eric.

"Oh he was racing a cat who was climbing up a tree. He thought he could reach the top of the house before the cat made it to the top of the tree." He explained and Kitty began to laugh, it wasn't long before Eric joined in.

Kitty shook her head still smiling, "It's hard to believe that he's a father now."

"Yeah." Eric nodded, in agreement. Then suddenly his mind went back to that day Kelso had broken his arm, that was in the cast in the picture. "Wow Mom, you know thinking back to that day you were like really cool and collective when Hyde and me went to go tell you what had happened."

Kitty remained silent as she smiled and continued listening to her son.

"We went in there and I was panicking like well you know, always. But even Hyde was pretty scarred too." He went on, "And you just went out to Kelso in like full Nurse Mode."

"Honey, I am a trained nurse remember?" she questioned with a slight smile.

"Well yeah, I know…it's just I think one of the main reasons we always hung out over here, besides all the cookies you would make us," Eric rambled on, "was because we knew if something happened we could go to you and you'd handle it just like any mom should but everyone else's mom didn't."

Kitty smiled as the tears started to sting her eyes. Eric smiled as well but had turned his attention back to the photos in the book.

"Hey look at Laurie in this one, Mom." Eric called out.

But Kitty didn't move an inch towards the photo. Instead she leaned back against her pillows and closed her eyes; she suddenly didn't feel very well. Her actions went unseen by Eric as he kept his eyes on the picture of his older sister.

"You would think she wouldn't look so evil cause she's just a kid," he began, "But I think she looks even eviler. I mean if this does say Satan, I don't know…Mom?" he called out sounding paranoid as he looked over and saw his mother's state.

"Mom? Mom…are you ok?" he asked worriedly, forgetting the scary photo of his sister and grabbing onto Kitty's hand.

"I'm fine Eric." Kitty nodded slowly with her eyes still closed, "Could you get that wastebasket by my nightstand and hand it to me?"

"Sure. Sure thing Mom." Eric nodded before reaching over to his right and grabbing the small trash can that was right where his mother had said it would be. He pulled the basket onto the bed and gently placed it on the bed.

"Here it is Mom. What do you…"

Before Eric could finish his question, Kitty had sat herself straight up and buried her face into the wastebasket just before letting out heaving noises into the basket.

Eric watched on wide eyed, having to restrain himself from jumping off the bed. He stayed on the mattress next to his mother but couldn't touch her or even grab her hand, in fear of making things worse.

As more of the noises of liquid hitting the bottom of the wastebasket were heard, Eric closed his eyes and scrunched up his face abit. He knew he couldn't just sit her and watch his mother puke out her guts, but he didn't know what else to do. But he did know someone who would.

Immediately Eric opened his eyes and saw that his mother's face was no longer hidden in the trash can, but she didn't quite look like it was out of her system.

"Mom. I'll be right back ok?" he said, getting out of the bed while gripping onto her hand once again, "I promise."

Not having enough strength to respond with any words, Kitty simply nodded her head very slowly.

Eric rushed out of the room as soon as he saw his mom's head move. Though the distance wasn't very far at all, he ran to the room he'd been staying in during the previous nights. He knocked on the door, hoping not disturb the family in his room or anyone downstairs, but wanting the occupant of the room to wake up as soon as possible.

"Jackie!" he called out in a whisper before knocking again, "Jackie, get up!"

A few seconds, that felt like hours to Eric, later the bedroom door opened and he came face to face with a tried looking brunette.

"This better be good, Eric." She said sounding half asleep but still sounding very threatening.

"Um…" Eric struggled with his words as he watched the tiny woman in front of him.

He'd never seen Jackie like this. Never. She was in baggy sweatpants and an old Point Place High School shirt that fit her very snuggly. Her hair was tussled with that 'just out of bed' look that she really did pull off.

Eric shook his head from any more thoughts on Jackie's appearance. He needed to get her over to his mom.

"Mom…I…"

Jackie furrowed her brow, trying to understand what Eric was trying to tell her. She leaned her head in closer, hoping to hear him better. She did get an earful but not with Eric's words, instead it was the indescribable yet familiar sounds coming form Kitty's room.

She took one last look at Eric before darting to the Forman's bedroom; Eric hot on her heels.

Jackie ran into the bedroom and once she saw Kitty looking sick and tired with her back slightly hunched over and her face in the wastebasket, she was quick to make her way to Kitty's beside.

"It's okay, Mom." She said in a comforting soft voice, which surprised Eric he saw as she rubbed a hand over the older woman's back.

Eric watched Jackie with his mother and while he was relieved to have Jackie here—another knew feeling to him—he feared she might blame him and then tell Hyde.

"I didn't give her anything except the scrapbook." He defended himself, placing his hands in the air.

After hearing her son's words, Kitty looked up at him and managed a very tiny smile, "Eric, I'm fine really, honey."

While Eric may have been convinced by Kitty's words, they weren't fooling Jackie.

"Mom," Jackie said in a soft whisper as she continued running her ran down Kitty's back, "do you still feel sick?"

Kitty closed her eyes and carefully nodded her head.

"Okay." Jackie whispered to her before turning her attention to Eric. He was just standing in the bedroom, looking worried and frighten, not sure of what to do.

"Eric, I need you to go downstairs and get me some of your mom's medicine ok?" she asked.

Eric nodded along as Jackie listed the four different medications she wanted him to retrieve. They were long, unknown names to Eric and he hoped he would remember them.

"Got it?" she asked to make sure.

"Yeah." Eric replied nervously, "I think so."

Jackie nodded to him and then looked back at Kitty. "Come on mom, I'll help you to the bathroom." She said before grabbing the waste can and putting it on the floor so she could pulled the cover off Kitty and help her off the bed.

Eric watched Jackie take care of his mom, helping her out of the bed. She was acting just like she was a professional, acting just like he said Kitty had acted with Kelso that day long ago.

"Eric." Jackie called out, breaking Eric from his daze.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm going."

"No, I was gonna say, be quiet down there." She said, "There are other people who're still asleep."

Eric nodded, he knew what that meant. Be quiet, because Hyde's still asleep. And if he finds out Mom's sick, he'll kick us both out.

Without another word said, Eric took off out of the room in his hurried pace and Jackie helped Kitty push along the metal pole to the bathroom.

0o0o0o

It didn't take Eric more than three minutes to retrieve the medicines Jackie had sent him for, and then return upstairs to his mother's bedroom.

When Eric entered the room again, he was surprised to see that it was empty. Jackie and his mom must have still been in the bathroom. He didn't think he'd been that fast, maybe his mom was feeling even worse.

Eric walked over to the right side of the bed and placed the orange cylindrical bottles on the nightstand. On his way there he was met with a strong stench, looking down at his feet he saw the wastebasket his mother had been using as a bucket.

The smell wasn't doing him any favors, and so Eric figured it would help his mom at all either. And it would save Jackie the trouble of doing it later.

Carefully and very slowly, he picked up the trash can—keeping it at arms length and walked towards the bedroom door. As Eric walked out of the room he realized he didn't know what to do with the basket, except get rid of it. Not quite sure what to do with it, he placed it on the floor out side in the hallway before closing the bedroom door back up.

Satisfied at getting that out of the way, Eric walked back over to the bed an noticed the comforter had gotten a little dirty. This time he knew what to do.

Being careful not to touch any of the small mess, Eric scooped the thick blanket and scrunched it up into a ball, then threw it outside beside the wastebasket. After depositing the comforter, He walked off in the hallway and headed to the hall closet where he pulled out two different blankets and then carried them back to Kitty's room.

When he came back to the room, Eric was happy to see the bathroom door was still closed. He quickly but neatly placed the blankets over the sheets, being sure to fold down a flap for his mom to still be able to get under the covers.

Just as he'd finished with the second blanket, the bathroom door opened up and the two women came into view.

Jackie frowned slightly as Kitty smiled weakly, watching Eric fix up the bed.

"You changed the blankets?" Jackie asked in disbelief.

"Um yeah.' Eric nodded, now hoping he hadn't done wrong.

Kitty's smile told him, he hadn't. "Thank you, sweetie." She said softly.

"I got rid of the trash can too." Eric added causing both women to smile at how he wanted them to be proud of him. "Oh and your medicines are right there on the table, Mom."

"Thank you, Eric." Kitty said as Jackie helped her back into bed, "I really appreciate it."

Eric smiled, watching as Jackie handed his mom the different pills and then a glass of water.

"Yeah Forman," Jackie said turning to look at him, "you did good."

Her words made Eric smile even more, but before he could say anything, she'd already turned her self to face Kitty.

"Are you feeling a little better now, Mom?" she asked.

Kitty nodded, "A little."

"Are you in any pain, Mom?" Eric asked surprising the two women, as he sat down at the foot of the bed.

Kitty didn't say anything, but Eric could see something different in his mother. Maybe it was pain maybe it wasn't. But if it was pain, she was never one to say anything about it.

"Even just a little?" he questioned.

"Just a little." Kitty replied in a quite voice.

Though Jackie was still surprised by the sudden doctorness in Eric that had come out, she was still concerned about Kitty. "Maybe you should press the button, Like Angela said. To help with the pain."

Kitty closed her eyes and shook her head, "It makes me drowsy." She shared, "I don't want to fall asleep when I could be spending time with Eric."

Jackie looked over at Eric, with a look that told him he should say something. And so as he climbed back into the bed, sitting this time on side his father usually slept on, he thought of something he could say to get Kitty to take the medicine that would help her with the pain.

"Mom, I think you should press the button. I don't wanna see you in pain." He said, when she reopened her eyes, "I'm still gonna be here for a few more days and I promise we'll finish looking at the photo album together later on ok?" he asked handing her the control Angela had given her the other day.

Gradually Kitty reached over and took the item out of her son's hand. "Okay."

There was a beep heard as Kitty pressed the button with her thumb and closed her eyes. Eric looked from his mom to Jackie and found her smiling at him. He smiled back and opened his mouth to say something to the brunette but stopped when Kitty began to speak.

"But until I fall asleep, I want to keep looking at those pictures." She said and Eric nodded.

"You got it, Mom." He said before reaching over and grabbing the album from where it's been moved to minutes before.

Jackie smiled as she watched Eric open up the scrapbook and look through the pages with his mother. She'd know thing would work out after that big mess of him running off, but she didn't expect it to happen so quickly. She was very grateful that it did though.

"Well I think I'll be heading back to bed." She announced to the two, "See you in the morning."

"Jackie, where're you going?" Kitty questioned, "Stay here and look at a few pictures with us."

The brunette shook her head, "Oh no, it's ok. You two look through them together. Spend some time with your son."

"Come on Jackie, you're in here too." Eric called out this time.

Jackie slightly bit her bottom lip. She always did enjoy looking at old photos, especially ones with her in them. And they did want her to stay. She gave a small sigh and shrugged her shoulders.

"Okay." She agreed and then walked over to the bed too.

She went over to the left side of the mattress and then climbed in, getting under the covers and sitting close to Eric. Surprised by her actions, Eric looked over at her with slight shock on his face.

"I wanted a good view." She informed with a grin before joining the two in a trip down memory lane.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__And that would be Chapter 20 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Will Kitty feel better in the morning? Will Hyde find out that Kitty got sick? Will Red be home soon? Will we ever find out who called Uncle Marty? And just what is going on between Eric and Jackie? confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Oo also quick question. Are you guys ok with the what day this is? Or would you like me to go back rename the chapters, keep the titles but put before them what day it is. I.E. this chapter would be Day (#) I Wanted a Good View. Just wondering if that would work good for you, if not and you like how things are then no need to say anything!_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care and have a nice day!_


	22. Goodnight

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note:**__ Hello everyone! Sorry, sorry. I know I'm a day late. I really tired to get it done yesterday but I kinda forgot I had this meeting for college to go to today at like seven in the morning and so I had to go to sleep early, which was pretty hard to do with the thunder storm taking place. And then I went to the meeting was came home and about an hour later I crashed out on the couch and didn't wake up until about one. That explains why it's posted later in the day. Sorry! Hopefully next week! Couple of notes, as always I am not a doctor nor am I studying to be one. I have been watching House a lot lately though. Also this is a shorter chapter than usual, sorry but it is pretty important. Thanks for the reviews you guys, they really make my day! Hope you like and Enjoy!_

* * *

"_And then there's my mother who…"_

"_Kitty." Red called from the kitchen, interrupting Kitty as she talked about her side of the family._

_Both Kitty and Hyde, with the camera, looked over at the swinging door just as Red pushed through it and walked over to Kitty._

"_I have to go meet up with The Loud One."_

"_Where is she?" Kitty asked, concern etched on her face._

_Red saw the worry on his wife's face and knew he had to do something about it._

"_She's fine Kitty. She's down at the garage." Red explained, "She said her car was making noise and she knew she wouldn't make it over here so she went over to the shop. I told her not to buy that damn thing."_

_Kitty nodded and Red went on._

"_Might stay there awhile to check out the car, I'll call you and let you know."_

"_Ok." Kitty replied with a nod, before stretching her neck to let her lips meet Red's in a quick but loving kiss._

_Red turned towards the camera, "You can edit that out right?" he asked gruffly._

"_Yeah sure thing, man." Hyde lied. The truth was he could barely figure out how to stop this thing, which was mostly why he kept the film running._

"_Good." He replied and then headed back into the kitchen._

"_Bye honey, be careful." Kitty called after him and then waited a few seconds before turning back to the camera with a smile, "You know, Steven. I think you were right about Jackie being Red's favorite."_

"_Yeah I know…" Hyde began to agree before he remembered something, "Hey you never did give a straight answer to who your favorite was."_

_Kitty just laughed and shook her head._

0o0o0o

It was two forty-five in the morning and both Jackie and Eric were still lying in Kitty's bed—with her—absorbed in the photo album.

"Oh look how adorable I look in that one." Jackie said pointing to an old photo in the book.

Eric looked down at the photo she was talking about. It was a picture of him and Hyde when they were about eleven; they were in the driveway their arms around the other's shoulder. Eric was smiling happily as Hyde just smirked that smirk of his while holding a basketball under his left arm.

"Um Jackie, you're not in this one." He said looking back at the tiny brunette.

"Yes I am." Jackie argued, "Right there. In the back."

Eric leaned his head down to the picture, to get a better look. He looked past himself and Hyde and squinted his eyes abit. And sure enough saw a tiny little girl sitting on one of the patio chairs smiling away.

"You're in the very back." He said turning to Jackie again.

"I'm still there."

Eric shook his head and snorted in disbelief in Jackie's direction. He couldn't believe she could point out herself in a picture that she was barely visible in. Maybe she'd seen the photo so many times, it was just one of those things she noticed after a while. Or maybe she knew all the time some one had taken a photo of her like some kind of…superpower or super sense thing.

"Mom, do you believe…"Eric bean to ask his mother but lost his train of thought when he turned his head to look at her.

Kitty was lying on her side of the bed, with her eyes closed as she slept a deep, much need sleep. Eric stared down at his mother, noticing that her breathing was slightly slower than he though it should be. Of course he was new to this whole thing and didn't know if that was normal. What also could his attention was how she looked so peaceful and exhausted at the same time.

"I think she's asleep." Eric whispered to Jackie, who'd been watching him.

The young woman titled her head to the right, "Really?"

"Yeah." Eric replied with a nod.

Fighting back the urge to laugh, Jackie threw the blanket off her legs and swung them off the bed. She looked back at Eric once she was off the mattress and on her feet.

"Come on." She urged.

"What about Mom?"

"She'll be fine." She assured, but Eric still didn't look very sure, "I promise."

Eric stared at Jackie. She promised huh? Well she had been helping him this whole time he'd been home and had been pretty nice to him in general too. If this was going to turn into a burn, after all of her kindness before, it would be one wicked burn. Still after the time they'd spent together in these past four days, he realized he could and should trust her.

Not even after all those years down in the basement, before all of this, could he have been able to do that.

He looked back at his mom and carefully pulled the blanket up to cover her up some more, causing Jackie to smile as she looked on from where she was standing. Eric then carefully climbed out of the bed, and went over to where Jackie was waiting.

Together they walked towards the bedroom door. Once they were there, Eric reached over and opened the door for Jackie. She looked up at him, her smile remaining on her lips.

"You know Forman, you really surprised me tonight."

Eric's eyes brows moved inwards just a bit, he wondered if this was going to be good or bad "How so?"

"Well," she began to explain as she started out of Kitty's bedroom, "There's the blankets and the trash can. I really didn't expect you to clean up those things without being asked. I…" she suddenly stopped talking and walking as her eyes fell on a small pile out in the hallway.

"Oh, right." Eric said from behind her, in a tone that tried to show that he had just remembered, "About that…"

"No. It's fine." Jackie said, lifting up her hands up slightly to keep him from speaking.

Now Eric was really worried that she was upset with him.

"Jackie." he called after her as she walked up ahead through the hallways.

"I said it was fine, Eric." She said still walking to the staircase.

"Jackie I wanted to do something about them, honestly." Eric called out, trying not to raise his voice too much. "I just I didn't' know what exactly to do with them How to clean them or anything like that. If I'd known what to do, I would have done it."

Jackie stopped walking and turned herself around to face Eric, "I know."

"You…you know?" he asked confused.

"Yeah. That's why I said it was fine." Jackie explained, "Besides it's better that you didn't try to do anything else. The sheets have to be washed and well you know Steven's down in the basement with the washer and dryer."

"So when you said it was fine you meant it was…really fine?"

"Yeah." Jackie replied with a smile, "Now come on."

Eric followed Jackie to the end of the hallway and to the beginning of the stairway, but he was still puzzled about what had just happened.

He never knew that the word 'fine' could actually mean fine. Back when he and Donna were still together, she'd say things were fine but didn't mean it at all. Of course Eric knew plenty of other women did this, but with Donna, it would take her forever to finally tell him what was wrong. That is if he was lucky enough to get her to tell him.

Jackie said fine and meant fine. It was weird. But nice.

When they reached the bottom step, Eric noticed that Jackie chose the route to the kitchen that went through Red's den and the dinning room. Eric wondered if she'd done that because of him or because she didn't want to disturb the snoozing couple.

They entered the kitchen that was filled with a faint smell of coffee. Jackie immediately twirled herself on her heel to look at Eric.

"You already made coffee?" she asked, he was full of surprise tonight.

"Uh yeah." Eric nodded, "I kinda thought I should, since I was staying with Mom and I didn't wanna fall asleep." He explained, "Oh and I didn't want the risk of having to drink that thing of yours that you call instant coffee."

Jackie snarled "Shut up and sit down _Mr. Coffee_." She ordered in the same playful tone he'd used with her.

With a slight grin on his face, Eric walked over to the round table and took a seat in his once regular seat. Meanwhile behind him, Jackie was getting the mugs from the cabinets.

The room was quiet, but a comfortable quite. A quiet Eric really liked, but wasn't at all disappointed when Jackie broke it as she and two yellow mugs made their way to him.

"Ok here you go." She said handing him one of the mugs. "The sugar's right there, but we're out of cream."

"It's fine." Eric assured before putting just a spoonful of sugar in his beverage. "So um why'd we come down here?"

"It's what Steven and I do." Jackie explained as she took a seat in the chair to his left, "We come here and rink coffee and…"

"I don't believe it." Eric said shaking his head, not blinking his eyes for several seconds.

Jackie frowned at his actions. They were much more exaggerated than they needed to be.

"What?" she asked sharply, "Because we use to date but broke up, we can't sit down and have coffee together? We've been broken up for almost nine years, we've lived together for two of them. Steven and I are exes but were also pretty close…unlike some people."

Eric nodded his head slightly, he knew who those some people were. And the truth was seeing Hyde and Jackie while he was here, they were pretty close; playing cards, talking about things only they knew about. It almost made him jealous. He doubted he and Donna could ever get into the same zone those two were in.

"I…um…" Eric cleared his throat, "I actually meant I couldn't believe it because there's no way you two could rink your coffee so many times and still be alive."

"Oh." Was all Jackie could say as a wave of guilt washed over her from that slight burn she'd given him, "Sorry."

Eric just lifted up his left hand to stop Jackie from talking and letting her know, he was ok.

"If you must know though," she began to speak again looking down at her cup for a few seconds, "Steven made the coffee."

The corners of Eric's mouth twitched and then a smirk played on his lips for a few seconds, before that turned into a large grin as he pointed bat Jackie happily.

"I knew it!" he cried causing Jackie to laugh out loud.

The duo slowly slipped into another relaxed silence, as they sipped their coffee and enjoyed the other's company—as surprising as that was.

"So you and Hyde always do this after you help take of Mom?" Eric questioned, breaking the quietness.

"Um yeah, at night most of the time." Jackie shared as she nodded her head up and down, "It's kind of stressful … you get a little tense I mean, and a little nerve-racking when we have to help Mom through a situation like the one tonight…and unfortunately tonight's was pretty tame."

Eric frowned, he had thought tonight had been bad. It was like nothing he'd ever had to go through before. It was nice to hear that Jackie and even Hyde would get those same uneasy feelings he got, even after everything had calmed down.

"We come down here to relax a bit, after everything's under control." The brunette went on, "We sit here and talk a little and drink coffee."

"Oh ok I get it." Eric said as something clicked in the inside of his head, "You guys have 'coffee.' Like a 'coffee' circle."

Jackie shook her head, "No, Eric. Not like a 'coffee' circle. Not like any kind of circle."

"Seriously?" he asked disbelief clear in his voice and on his face.

"Steven gave up 'circles' when your mom was first diagnosed."

Eric's face fell, the shock being too heavy to show on his face. He didn't know Hyde had stopped…having circles. Sure the gang had split up, but he had never thought is old friend would ever give up circles. But apparently he had. And for his mom.

"Whoa." He breathed, still digesting the idea of Hyde being one of the 'straight folks.' "So he's been clean since then?"

"Well no. I mean he didn't just quit cold turkey." Jackie explained, "But I think he's been clean for about two and a half years."

Eric nodded his head, not know what else to say. And also not wanting to say anything more. He really didn't want to talk about Hyde and the things that had been given up since Kitty got sick. The next thing he'd find out was that his dad had given up steak.

"What do you guys talk about while you're down here, drinking your coffee?" he asked changing the subject.

Jackie raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Well I kinda wanna know how things go, so I can do them too. With you know, taking care of Mom and relaxing after too." Eric said, "So what do you guys talk about?"

Jackie eyed the man she once thought resembled a twig, now that twig was at least a really big and strong branch. Taking a few minutes to think over his words, Jackie decided he had a point and she should share some more details on Steven and her's little ritual.

"Different things." She replied, "You know how talkative Steven can be." She said, deep in sarcasm.

Eric chuckled, "Yeah."

"We talk about Mom a lot. Mostly sharing memories we had with her, back when she was still healthy." Jackie shared in a soft voice as a smile began to make it's way over her lips.

"Like I remember the time she tried to teach me how to make a bunt cake for a school project." She laughed at the memory, "That was bad. I must have ruined five cakes. Your mom ended up giving me money to go buy a cake from the store."

Eric laughed along with Jackie, "I remember that. That was the day the kitchen caught fire right?"

"There was no fire." Jackie scowled, her mismatched eyes right on Eric's, "The smoke detectors just went off."

Her argument just made Eric laugh some more. She gave him a small hit on his shoulder, in hopes of getting him to quiet down, "What about you? You've gotta have plenty of fond memories with your mom. Mama's Boy."

"Well yeah…" Eric began to agree, ignoring the name she'd called him.

"Then come on share." She ordered, "It's your turn."

"Um ok…" Eric said before drifting off and digging into his brain. Sure he had plenty of memories of his mom, but that also made it difficult to pick just one to share with Jackie.

After a few more seconds of pondering, Eric spoke again. "Oh ok, well there's was a career day by when we were juniors in high school…"

"I remember." Jackie nodded, "And I was sophomore."

"Right." Eric nodded quickly not really thinking that was such an important detail, of course he knew she was a sophomore, "Anyways, I followed Mom around the hospital that time and it was just…like an eye-opener."

"I had never known that she did all those things, that she could do all those things." He went on, "We were practically running around the hospital. Mom was visiting with patients that hadn't had any visitors, she was helping deliver babies. She knew a lot more than those doctors there. She was ven touching dead bodies. Dead bodies!"

Jackie giggled as his high tight voice mad another quick appearance.

"But it was really that ride home that really sticks with me." Eric continued, "I could tell that the day at the hospital was a long one and one of the patients she was close with died, but she didn't seem bothered by it. I'm sure she was, but it was like she left whatever happened at work, at work and went home with a better attitude for us."

"I remember that day whenever I have a bad day. I mean sure, there's no one that I really have to have a happy attitude for at my apartment. Still though, I try to keep what happened at work, at work; like Mom."

Jackie smiled, "That's a really sweet story, Eric. You should share that with her."

"Yeah." Eric nodded and slowly began to grin as he looked at Jackie, "I think I will."

"You did really good today, Eric." Jackie said out loud, "You went to see your mom, and apologized—even though you didn't have to. You even got Steven to let you stay with her tonight. And you did stay with her up in her room this whole time."

Eric smiled almost hopefully, "So does that mean I'll get two crumbs of my luggage tomorrow?"

"We'll see." Jackie replied, coolly.

"It's not a no." he said out loud and Jackie's smile grew some more before she went on.

"And when she got sick, you didn't freak out as much as I thought you would. You actually helped out. I really apperceived that." She told him "And the photo album was a nice touch."

"Oh well you know…"Eric struggled with his words a bit, "I the photo album really wasn't my idea. I got it from what you said about keeping Mom's mind of her being sick. I didn't…"

Jackie shook her head, "No, you did. You came up with the idea of the photo album. I never even mentioned anything about photos. That was all you Eric." She paused to take a sip of her coffee and then looked back up at him, "And you really need to stop doing that."

"Doing what?" he asked confused.

"Putting yourself down like that, and feeling sorry for yourself. You're a really good guy Eric and a lot luckier than you think." She explained and then placed her right hand over his left one, "You did good today. I'm proud of you and you should be proud of you."

Eric couldn't help but smile, "Thanks, Jackie."

Jackie smiled back and Eric was once again hypnotized by her smile and her bright, happy eyes. They sat in their seats, the peaceful silence falling over them. Their eyes stayed on each other, and Jackie's had never moved from Eric's.

Ever so slowly, Eric's grin began to fade away as he watched the young woman next to him. She wasn't the same girl from the basement years ago. She was kind and very beautiful. If she was this beautiful back then and he hadn't noticed, Red was completely right about him being a dumbass.

And she'd been so helpful to him since he'd gotten here. With everything. He was very grateful for that.

Suddenly Eric felt himself moving in closer to where Jackie sat, his eyes still fixed on her. Jackie saw his movements as he moved closer and closer to her, but didn't put a stop to them.

Before either one of them knew it, Eric's mouth was covering Jackie's and they were both getting lost in the best kiss either of them had had in years. It was passionate and yet so tender. It was almost too much.

Jackie pulled away and out of the kiss. She stared back at Eric with surprise in her eyes.

"Steven and I," she said almost breathlessly, "don't do that."

"Good." Eric answered before moving his hand behind her head to cup the bottom of it.

Once again, he leaned in closer but this time Jackie surprised him by meeting him in the middle.

This second kiss was almost as passionate as the first, if not more so. Jackie wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her hungry lips, just as Eric softly used the hand on her head to urge her towards him. Neither one of them could believe they were kissing the other, they'd never even dreamed of doing anything like it. But the kiss felt so right, it was almost as if it were a dream.

But it wasn't a dream and they both knew it. This was real life.

Again Jackie broke the kiss and pulled herself away from Eric. She carefully stood up from her chair, her eyes on Eric's worried ones the whole time.

"I'm sorry…I can't." she whispered as she carefully walked backwards to the swinging door, "I'm sorry, Eric…I….Goodnight."

And then she was gone.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__There it is Chapter 21 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Will Hyde find out that Kitty got sick? What did those kisses mean? Why did Jackie leave? Will things between Jackie and Eric change now? Will the rest of the gang find out? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until then, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	23. It Was My Idea

_**Disclaimer: **__I own…nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello All! Oh my goodness! I am so sorry for the wait! Things were just pretty hectic over here. First last last weekend we had surprise company come in, always fun. No actually it was, but it took time away from my writing. Then during last week I had to get ready for my college orientation, one I almost tried to get out of going till I found out one of my closest friends was going too. So we went and had fun there, and came home tired. No lies. I came home Friday afternoon didn't wake up till a Saturday afternoon! That day I knew I had to work on the story, but go a little blocked and made a huge mistake of watching something really depressing. Long story short, after I finished watching the episode of something I thought, ' I don't wanna do them!' Episode was from 'Archie Bunker's Place' had never seen the episode and really shouldn't have because I was supper sad and didn't want to work on this story and didn't until today when I figured out something I want to do with the story. So see pretty crazy! But Anywoo I hope this long chapter makes up for the wait. A couple of quick notes, this AN is getting to be as long as the chapter. First of all, I am not a doctor nor am I training to be one. Did see an old episode of ER the other day though. Second, thanks so much to all the reviews and encouraging words, when I felt that depression and almost put a hiatus on the story I thought about you guys! Third please read the bottom author's note for more…well more of my notes to you all. Thanks again and I am so sorry for the wait!_

* * *

"_Do you ever wish you didn't have to work?" Hyde asked Kitty from behind the camera._

"_Well, I'm not working anymore." Kitty reminded, and her smile shrunk a few centimeters. "It's been almost two years since I've been to the hospital as anything but a patient."_

"_I'm guessing you miss it?"_

_Kitty nodded and smiled, "Yes, I do. I'm a nurture and I miss taking care of people, making them fell better." She paused for a few seconds, "I mean I love being here at home and having more time to spend with you, Jackie, and Red…but my work at the hospital was something different."_

_Hyde nodded along as he kept the camera rolling._

"_Oh I don't know, I think it might be my generation." She went on with a quick shake of her head, "Even Red. He turned down that offer to 'Muffler Masters.' And I really am glad that he stood his ground, because I knew he really didn't want to retire. He wanted to keep working, keep doing the things he loves, keep feeling useful. It's going to be a long while before that man finally does retire."_

"_Yeah." Hyde nodded, "And it kinda keeps his mind off the…you know."_

_Kitty nodded her head along, knowing exactly what he was talking about._

"_Another reason I'm glad he kept the shop."_

_0o0o0o_

The next morning, Eric Forman was still sound asleep in his parents bedroom.

Last night had been a long night for him. First his mom had gotten sick, then what happened with Jackie down in the kitchen. And after Jackie had left to her room, Eric had stayed down in the kitchen for at least another half hour before going back to his Mom's room where he continued to replay that kitchen kiss in his head, trying to figure out why Jackie had left the way she did.

It was at least four in the morning when Eric had finally fallen asleep. He couldn't remember the last time he'd stayed up that late.

Even then, he was still waking up every so often because of the uncomfortable feeling he had from sleeping on the wrong side of the bed. When he'd returned back to Kitty's room the night before, she'd made herself comfortable on the left side of the bed—which confused Eric just a bit, he always remembered from the times he'd come into his parents room as a child during a storm, that his mother slept on the right side of bed. But Eric ignored his thoughts and didn't have the heart to move her, so he tried to get some sleep on the other side of the bed.

Things are different when you sleep on the right side of the bed though. Like the direction of where you can roll changes. Eric usually rolled to his right when he slept, there was much more room that way. But when you slept on the right side of the bed, there wasn't much room left on that side to roll to.

He learned that the hard way as he rolled his body towards the right on the mattress just as he would in his own bed; but unlike in his own bed, he reached the end of the mattress a lot sooner and sent himself down to the floor with a loud thump.

Instantly, Eric woke from his sleep and sat straight up, alarm in both his face and his actions. He quickly looked back on the bed to make sure he hadn't woken up his mom.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Kitty wasn't even in the bed.

Carefully and already starting to fall back into his slumber, Eric climbed back onto the bed and rested his head on the pillow before closing his eyes.

Not even two seconds after Eric had shut his eyes, he reopened them making them bigger than ever as he realized he was lying in an empty bed.

"Mom?" he called out as he shot himself straight up and off the bed.

The call received to response and caused a feeling of worry to stir around in Eric's stomach.

He walked around his parents' bedroom, looking on the floor and sticking his head into the already opened closet door. But still no sign of his mother. This was not good. He only spent one night with her and already he'd lost her. This was worse than anything Fez and Kelso could do together.

Hyde was gonna kill him.

As Eric spun around the bedroom once again, trying not to go into his twitchy, panicky mode, he noticed the bathroom door was shut.

He nearly breathed a sigh of relief. Of course she was in the bathroom; she'd probably gotten sick….but that wasn't exactly something to give a sigh of relief to. Eric slowly crept his way to the closed door, part of him hoping his mother was in there, the other hoping he'd find her elsewhere.

Eric rapped his knuckles on the white painted piece of wood, "Mom?" he waited a few minutes of silence, before pushing the door open.

"Mom, are you…" he stopped mid sentence as he saw the bathroom was vacant.

He pulled the door closer to him, to shut it once again. Eric looked around the room once again and stopped at the main door; it obvious that his mom wasn't in here and that meant he had to go out there.

Eric really didn't have a problem going out of the bedroom and seeing the others who were staying in the house. Things were really going well between all of them. What really had him nervous was going out there and having to tell them—them being Hyde—that he couldn't find his mom.

Still there was a chance that most of the guests were asleep and if he wanted to find his mom before anyone else did, he needed to start moving _now_.

Eric exited the master bedroom and quietly snuck past his sister's slash Jackie's bedroom. Though Jackie would probably be willing to help him find his mom, he didn't want to wake her and then find himself thinking back to last night. He had to keep his mind on finding Kitty. Besides after last night there really was no guarantee that Jackie would be willing to help him right now.

He kept his head switching from left to right as he moved down the hallway. He has stopped in front of the hallway bathroom when he'd heard voices but went on his way as he realized the voices were only Brooke and Betsy.

Moving closer to the stairway, a familiar scent filled Eric's nose. It was a smell he hadn't smelt in some time, it was a smell that he missed, a smell that reminded him of home, it was the smell of bacon.

Eric practically flew down the living room stairs. He never looked over at Donna and Randy, but did remember to go through the den and dinning room to get to the kitchen.

When Eric entered his mother's kitchen he was relieved to see her there. She was sitting on one of the kitchen chairs, beside the stove where Kelso and Fez were standing, each of the two wearing aprons and cooking something over the oven.

While he was happy to see his mother was safe and did seem to be enjoying himself, he still did want some answers.

"What are you doing?"

"Making breakfast." Kelso informed with a large grin.

"And seeing how sexy we look in our aprons." Fez added, wiggling his hips abit as he did so, earning him a laugh from Kitty.

"Yeah guys that's great." Eric said, clearly annoyed, "I was actually talking to you Mom."

"Oh honey, I already know how sexy I look in an apron." Kitty replied adding one of her laughs at the end of her words.

"Us too." Kelso chimed in, "Va va va voom!"

"Aye, Aye, Aye!" Fez said in agreement.

Kitty giggled at the two young men's actions and the looked over to her son, who she could see was not very amused.

"Oh come on Eric honey, lighten up a bit."

"Mom…I…"Eric struggled for his words. He was glad that he'd found her and that she was ok, but he knew she shouldn't be out of bed, "I don't think you should be down here making breakfast."

"I'm not making breakfast." She argued, "I'm helping Michael and Fez make breakfast."

"Yeah and it's a good thing too." Kelso said to Eric, "Can you believe it, I haven't set anything on fire!"

"Yet." Fez mumbled just loud enough for Kelso to hear, and when he did hear the foreign man's comment he had to nod along.

Kitty smiled away, "I feel like I have my own little cooking show." She shared with one of her Kitty laughs.

Eric couldn't help but smile. It was nice seeing his mom so happy. Seeing her here in the kitchen, in her room of the house, really did seem to lift up her spirits, which made Eric feel better too. Seeing her in the kitchen smiling and laughing was much better than seeing her looking so sick and weak up in her bedroom.

"Oh Fez sweetie, I think you should turn those pieces of bacon." Kitty instructed to Fez and then looked over at the taller man, "Michael, why don't you flip that pancake there and mix the batter for the next one."

"You got it, Mrs. F." Kelso nodded with a large grin before going on to do his task.

Meanwhile Fez was carefully turning his third piece of bacon. His left hand was pulled close to his chest and his left arm was outstretched with the tongs in his hand, he was ever so carefully trying to grasp part of the strip so he could turn it to the other side without any of the grease bubbles popping and getting on his hands.

"Aye!" Fez yelped pulling his right hand towards him after dropping the cooking utensil on the counter.

"Burn!" Kelso exclaimed pointing his finger at his friend, "Literally!"

Kitty gave the oldest of the boys a warning look before turning her attention to Fez.

"Come here Fez, let me see." She said in a soft, motherly voice.

Whimpering as he did so, Fez walked closer to the mother hen and outstretched his arm to her so she could examine his injury.

"Aye…Aye…Aye…!" he cried in pain with his eyes closed.

"Fez man," Eric called out, "Your hand is still in a fist. Mom hasn't seen anything yet."

Fez smiled sleepishly, "Oh." He then proceeded to open up his hand.

Kitty looked over Fez's palm for a few seconds, her eyes fixating on the reddened area below his pinky. It wasn't very red nor was it very serious, but since it was the first burn he'd gotten from… well from the first time he'd ever made bacon, it was sure to have caused some pain.

"Ok honey, it's ok. It's just a little burn." She said and Kelso giggled in the background, "We can put some ointment that's in the bathroom when Brooke finishes giving Betsy her bath, but I think you'll be just fine."

Kitty then placed a small kiss on the injured area and a smile sprung to Fez's face.

"Thank you Miss. Kitty. Your sweet kiss has made the deathly pain go away." The foreigner exaggerated and Kitty smiled, "Why does a deliciously tasty treat like bacon have to made in a ball of fire?"

"Ball of fire?" Kelso questioned, his ears perking up at the words, "I wanna try!"

"No, no, Michael." Kitty shook her head, she'd know the 'adult' man since he was six years old and having him make bacon was not a good idea. "I think you should stick with the pancakes."

Kelso pouted slightly, but went on with his task of flipping a pancake.

As the room quieted down, Eric broke out of his daze that was starting to make him believe that this was a good idea. He turned back to his mother ready to continue with the questions he had for her.

"Mom you shouldn't be down here. You should be up in bed, resting." He shook his head slightly, "You shouldn't have snuck down here by yourself."

Kitty rolled her yes, she was tired of being treated like a child by her children, "I did not sneak down here by myself, Eric."

Eric frowned with confusion. Someone had helped her come down stairs? Hyde or Jackie maybe? Maybe they had actually thought this was a good idea. Maybe it was a good idea, and he was just making into a bigger deal than it was.

"Michael and Fez helped me." She went on.

Eric looked away from his mother and turned to see the two she was talking about. The men were standing by the stove, goofing around. Kelso was swinging the spatula around while Fez tried to capture it with the tongs, forgetting all about his injury.

This had been their idea? Yeah, this was a _bad_ idea.

"They came into the room earlier this morning, to just sit and talk with me. You were sound asleep." Kitty began to explain, grabbing Eric's attention, "They told me how the only thing you kids have been eating since you've been here is take out food. And you know take out food is_ not _food."

"So I told them you all needed to have a home cooked meal, and they reminded no one but Brooke and myself can cook in this house. Of course, guests should never cook in your home because they're your guests not your cooks. That's when I told them I would make breakfast."

"Mom, you…" Eric began to say only to get interrupted.

"Then I remembered how hard of a time I would have with a few of my children, who will remain nameless." Kitty continued, "So that's when I decided to have the boys make the food and I'd just supervise. This way they can learn a few things too, at Kitty's School of Cooking." She finished with a giggle.

"The best and tastiest school I've ever been in!" Kelso added.

"Yes," Fez nodded, "I can not wait for our class on desserts."

Eric shook his head. He was happy to see his mom happy. But this talk coming from his friends…another 'class.' That was not happening.

"Sorry guys, this class's the first and the last." He said to his friends, "And it's gotta end early."

"Aww!" Both Fez and Kelso cried.

Kitty looked up at her son, "Eric."

"Mom, I'm sorry." Eric began, looking down at her, already holding onto the metal pole beside her, "But I don't want Hyde finding you down here, cooking…or supervising cooking either. He'll kill me."

"Steven is not going to kill you, Eric." She firmly told him. "I'm sure he'll appreciate this meal very much. He hasn't had something homemade since I went to the hospital. And who knows how long it's been since you've had a home cooked meal young man."

"I've…I've had home cooked meals."

Kitty narrowed her eyes at her son, "Frozen meals are not home cooked meals."

"Oh."

"See." The ill woman said with a nod of her head, "Now look at all the things the boys have made. There's toast, fresh squeezed orange juice, coffee, hashbrowns, scrambled eggs."

Eric followed his mother's hand as she gestured to the plates found through out the room, his mouth watering with each new item.

"And they're almost done with the bacon and pancakes."

Eric looked away from the overflowing plate of scrambled eggs and back at his mother. She smiled at him with a knowing smile, she knew she'd gotten her way. Not wanting to give in just yet, Eric looked at Fez and Kelso to find the two of them both grinning very proudly at the fact that they had been the ones who'd prepared the meal.

Slowly Eric looked back at Kitty and tried to fight the smile that was starting to make its way on to his lips.

"What can I do to help?"

Kitty's smile grew and she stretched both her arms up in Eric's direction. Knowing what she wanted, Eric placed his head between her hands, and allowed her to pull his head closer to hers. She placed a loving kiss on his forehead and then softly pushed him away.

"You can set the table for us."

Eric nodded and then straightened himself up before heading over to the cabinets to grab a few plates.

"Ok Fez, why don't you put those pieces on the plate there." Kitty suggested and Fez nodded before doing what he was told. "Now put four more strips in there. And if you put the burner up just abit higher, you'll see a little trick."

Grinning like a small child, Fez quickly placed the uncooked bacon on the pan and then turned the knob on the stove to the right. The bacon sizzled loudly and the aroma was becoming even strong. The new pieces of bacon couldn't have been on the stove for more than ten seconds, when footprints were heard followed by a familiar voice.

"Who's cooking bacon?"

Fez gasped as his frizzy haired friend, without his usual shades, appeared in the doorway from the basement.

"That is amazing!" he said in awe.

"Yeah!" Kelso agreed, "Now make him disappear!"

Hyde frowned at his moron friends, confused at what exactly what they were talking about. Still feeling puzzled, his eyes moved away from them and over to the nearby chair that his surrogate mother was sitting in. At that moment he couldn't figure out if he felt more confused or angry. When he turned his head to the far right and saw Eric getting dishes out of one of the cupboard he quickly figured it out.

"Forman man, what the hell?" Hyde asked already starting to charge at his adopted brother.

Eric quickly put his hands, that were still holding a cup in one and a plate in the other, up to try to defend himself from Hyde. Kelso and Fez looked on surprised and not sure what to do. Kitty watched her two boys and knew exactly what to do, but with her current state, she was going to have a little trouble doing so.

"You did good all day yesterday and then I let you stay with her last night. And now you go and do this! Making her get up to make breakfast?" Hyde asked angrily, "She's gotta be resting man not slaving over a hot stove. I thought you'd get that picture…"

"Steven!" Kitty called out, quieting Hyde right away. "Eric didn't make me get out of bed."

Hyde stared at Eric who'd practically cuddled up into a ball as he stayed standing, before slowly turning to Kitty. Fez and Kelso both exchanged worried expressions. They'd been the ones who'd gotten Kitty out of bed, but they certainly didn't want to be the open getting in trouble with Hyde. Trying to be secretive about it, they began to sneak their way to the swinging door.

"I made the decision all on my won." Kitty stated and Fez and Kelso stopped in their tracks.

Hyde didn't look very convinced, "You came down the living room stairs all by yourself?"

"Well Eric didn't help me." Kitty replied, it wasn't a lie.

Hyde shook his head, "Alright, well I don't care how you got down here, I'm helping you back upstairs." He said already getting ready to help Kitty out of her seat.

"Steven…" Kitty began to protest, not expecting someone to jump in and take over for her.

"Hyde, man maybe we should let her stay down here for a little longer." Eric said stepping forward, "I mean she's already been down here for awhile and everything seems to be pretty good. She's even happier than she is upstairs."

Kitty nodded along with her son's words as they both looked at Hyde, who was starting to get confused again. When did he become the bad guy?

"Look Mom, I know you wanna stay down here and that you're happier down here but…" Hyde sighed, "You've got be upstairs, in bed, resting. Not making breakfast."

"But she's not even making breakfast." Eric answered for his mother, "She's just watching and helping Kelso and Fez make it."

Hyde turned away from his adopted family and looked to where Fez and Kelso were standing. They each grinned dopey grins and lift a hand to wave when Hyde's eyes landed on them.

"These two morons?" Hyde asked looking back at Eric and Kitty, using his thumb to gesture behind him, "You'd have better luck with Betsy."

"Hey!" both men called out from behind.

"We are not children!" Kelso declared.

Fez nodded an affirmative nod, "Yes, we are _very_ mature."

"Yeah." Kelso said to Hyde and then turned to Fez, "Hey Fez man, when you put two pancakes together like this," he lifted two pancakes next to each other, "They look like boobs!"

"First doughnuts and now pancakes!" Fez said in amazement, "Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day!"

By the time Kelso had nodded in agreement, the other three occupants of the kitchen had tuned the other two out.

"See Mom, if you stay down here, you'll have to deal with that all day." Hyde said gesturing to Kelso and Fez, "Come on let's get you upstairs. Forman man, could you help me out here?"

Eric looked from Hyde to his mother. While he didn't want to get into another fight with Hyde so soon after making things a little better between them, an Upset Kitty Forman was not something you wanted to deal with. Besides Eric could tell his mother really did want to stay here with everyone else.

Slowly, he shook his head, "No."

Hyde frowned at Eric for a few seconds before letting his Zen take over, "Whatever." He said before looking back at Kitty, "Come on Mom…"

"Steven, no." Kitty sternly argued, "I'm feeling good today. I'm having one of my good days and I don't want to spend it upstairs in that room alone."

"Ok, fine." Hyde nodded understandingly, "I'll go up there with you."

"Steven…"

Hyde ignored her surrogate mother's protests and got ready to help her push along the IV. "I'll even get Jackie in there for awhile."

"Steven…."

"There's probably some good movies on TV right now…"

"Steven James Hyde." Kitty called out, finally being the one to interrupt, "I am not going back upstairs. I am staying down here and helping prepare a nice home cooked breakfast for my family. If you want to go upstairs so badly, then go, no one's stopping you."

Hyde stared down at Kitty, she looked upset and it was his fault. He never liked making her feel upset or any other emotion besides happy, but he was worried about her. Even if she said she was having a good day, he didn't want her over working herself by taking care of the others around her.

"Mom…you shouldn't be doing this." He said with a sigh.

"But I am." She replied, "And if you want to pretend that I'm not, fine. Then you can go get some greasy takeout breakfast, instead of having a nice home cooked meal like everyone else."

Hyde looked around the room seeing the various breakfast items. He felt angry at all she'd done already, but there was also a rumbling feeling coming from his stomach that yearned for something that wasn't fast-food.

Hyde's eyes landed back on Kitty, "I want extra pieces of bacon."

Kitty smiled and nodded, "As long as you help Eric set the table."

Hyde gave a small smirk before walking over to where Eric was. Eric handed his brother one of the glass plates and then reached back into the cabinets for more dishes.

The room fell into a comfortable silence as Fez and Kelso finished up on breakfast and Hyde and Eric gathered the tableware. It wasn't until the living room door swung and two more people entered the room.

"Hey you guys…" Donna began to greet as she and Randy walked in, still in their sleeping clothes, but her greeting drifted off as she took notice of the scene of her four male friends doing what was considered, 'woman's work.' She grinned, "I don't know what's going on here, but I like it."

"Randy man," Hyde said to the feather-hared man, "I think that's a warning to reconsider marrying this one."

While Donna shook her head and glared slightly at her old friend, Randy just laughed it off before taking notice of the older woman sitting in the chair.

"Good morning, Mrs. Forman." He greeted with a smile that she returned.

"Good morning, Randy."

"Mrs. Forman, I'm sorry I didn't even see you there with all the guys working in the kitchen." Donna explained and her smile grew as she pointed to the scene, "Did you do this?"

Kitty grinned back, "You bet I did."

Donna laughed a small laugh and nodded with approval, "It's good to see you out of bed again. How're you feeling?"

"I'm feeling good today, Donna. Thank you."

"You know it really is good that you're out of bed and moving around and doing stuff you like to do, Mrs. Forman. I remember when my grandpa was sick," Randy began to tell another story about his grandparents after he and Donna sat themselves down at the table, "He kept doing all the things he did when he was healthy. He actually died at the horse track."

"Oh my." Kitty said, she seemed to be the only one paying any attention to the story.

"It was ok though. Me and Grandma were there and when you think about it, it was really the way he wanted to go." He went on, "A fist full of winning tickets in one hand and cheesy nachos in the other."

Randy gave a small smile as he drifted off abit, while the others around him frowned and stay silent not sure of what to say.

"Oh that reminds me." Kitty said a few seconds later.

"Forget it, Mom." Hyde said lifting up his left hand, as he and Eric made their way to the table with the dishes, "I'm not taking you to the races."

Kitty laughed, "Don't be silly Steven. I just think we should take a trip to the market. All you kids have in the fridge now is butter and beer."

"But there's still beer, right?" Eric asked jokingly.

Hyde ignored Eric's joke and shook his head, "No way, Mom. I really don't think going to the store is a good idea." He stated, "I mean this with the breakfast is a pretty big risk. And you know we should kind of hurry it up, Angela's gonna be here pretty soon and I don't want her finding out about this."

"Aw Hyde doesn't want to get in trouble with his girlfriend." Fez teased before he and Kelso began making kissing noises towards Hyde.

"Ha ha. That's funny." Hyde said sarcastically.

"Thanks, I thought so." Fez grinned.

"yeah me too." Kelso nodded.

"Ow!" the two grinning baboons exclaimed together as Hyde bumped their heads together.

"Steven." Kitty scolded slightly.

Hyde just shrugged and smirked, "Sorry."

"Morning." A female voice called as she entered the room.

"Jackie, good listen…" Hyde began to say before he turned around and saw not just his ex-girlfriend but Angela as well. "Uh Angela…what…what are you doing here?"

"I said I was coming in the morning remember?" the young woman asked with a small smile, and then turned her attention to those in the background, "Good morning everyone."

The rest of the group waved and exchanged 'mornings' to the nurse before Kitty spoke up.

"oh Angela, dear I don't think you've met my son Eric." She said gesturing to Eric.

However, Eric didn't noticed his mother's wave to get him over to her, nor did he hear her words. He had his full attention on the tiny brunette who'd snuck behind everyone else and was quietly pouring herself some coffee, never looking his way. Why was that?

"Hello Eric." Angela greeted sticking her hand out from him to take.

"Huh?" Eric asked as he broke his eyes away from Jackie and saw the woman he'd never met but had heard of. "Oh, hi. I'm Eric."

Angela laugh as Eric shook her hand, "I know. It's nice to finally meet you. Your mother's told me so much about you."

Eric just smiled. He didn't really want to talk to this woman right now. Though he did appreciate everything she'd done for his mother so far and had millions of questions for her. He wanted to talk to Jackie. He had a million and one questions for her.

Luckily Angela didn't seem to bother or interested in the fact that Eric wasn't talking very much; she just turned her attention to Kitty.

"How are you feeling today Mrs. Forman?" she asked gently.

"Very well, dear." She replied.

"Good." Angela smiled, "And you being down here in the kitchen…"

"Uh yeah…about that…" Hyde began to explain.

"I think it's a really great idea." Angela finished with a smile as she looked at Hyde.

"It was my idea." Hyde, Kelso, and Fez said together.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__And that would be Chapter 22 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Ok more notes. First or you know fourth…I had to cut this chapter in half, the characters just really got away from me. But I was looking over my plans for the story and there's a lot. So I was thinking I may, if I get reviews for this long chapter, I'll post the second part this Friday. And yes it does have more Eric and Jackie. Sorry bout that in this chapter. So if you want a second update this week review and don't be afraid if it's your first review for the story, I'd still love to hear from you!_

_Will Eric and Jackie ever talk about the kiss? Why hasn't Jackie talked to him? Will Kitty get to go to the supper market? What will happen during this visit with Angela? And how will breakfast turn out? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until then, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, take care, stay tuned, and have a nice day!_


	24. Cool

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing, nothing, and nothing._

_**Author's Note:**__ Hi there everyone! I am sooo extremely sorry for the no update on Friday! I felt so bad, because you guys had left all those reviews and everything. Thank you so much for them all btw! But it wasn't my fault…well not technically. See my parents planned this really, really last minute trip to the beach and then for some reason my computer doesn't pick up the internet services form hotels. I really need to have that checked. Almost the entire time I was on the beach I kept thinking, 'Ugh, I can not believe I didn't update!' I really am sorry. But I promise I'll make it up with some surprise update soon. Won't say when but it won't be on a Monday…or should I say Tuesday. Quick notes. I am not a doctor nor am I going to school to learn to be one. It's summer I'm not even in school. Thanks so much for the reviews you guys, they really meant a lot to me! And while this chapter may seem kinda 'fillerish' it does have some important details in it. So thanks for the reviews, keep 'em coming, sorry for my tardiness and no Friday update. There is a surprise one coming though and Enjoy!_

* * *

"_When Red and I met I was in my last year of nursing school, he went off to the war and then about a year later we got married. By that time had already been working at the hospital for two years." Kitty explained to Hyde and the camera._

"_Back then it was mostly the husbands who went out and made the living while the women stayed home and took care of the cooking and cleaning; but Red never said anything to me about him not wanting me to work at the hospital." She continued, "He knew how much I loved my job and taking care of people. And I was still able to keep the house clean and cook. And more importantly with both of us working, we were able to save up and buy this house so early in our marriage."_

"_When Laurie was born I decided to stop working and stay at home with her."_

"_Big mistake huh?" Hyde asked jokingly._

_Kitty only shook her head giving both a slight smile and a slight frown at the same time, "And I didn't go back to working at the hospital until Eric was in high school."_

"_Of course I'd go in to work occasionally in between, when you kids were a little older. It was more part time and to bring in a little extra money." Kitty explained, "It wasn't until that recession hit and Red lost his job, that I went back full time."_

"_And even then, though he would moan and groan about how it was the husband's job to take care of the wife and children, Red really was grateful for the paychecks I was bringing in."_

_Hyde nodded behind the camera, "Yeah, that's nice. Hey is it true Red once punched out some doctor at the hospital before you guys got married?"_

_Kitty's smile fell a bit and she shook her head as realized how she should have seen the question coming._

_0o0o0o_

"Well whose ever idea it was, it was a very good thinking." Angela said to the grinning trio.

"Thanks." The same three voices replied.

As soon as the word left their mouths the three men turned to each other, ready to start an argument; but Angela's voice kept them from doing so.

"But I think we should go somewhere a little more private." She said.

Both Fez and Kelso grinned, "Ok!" they answered happily, taking a step forward.

Hyde rolled his eyes, "She meant Mom you idiots."

While both Fez and Kelso sulked their way back to preparing breakfast, Hyde quickly realized what he'd just done. He'd called his friends some not so nice things, and while they were all used to it and the word 'idiot' was a commonly used word by Hyde, Angel didn't know that. And what if she didn't like that.

"Uh…I mean you…silly heads." Hyde said trying to cover up his pervious words.

Everyone in the room seemed to send their own perplexed looks towards him. Everyone but Angela, who'd kept her attention on the IV at Kitty's side.

"Mrs. Forman, do you think it'll be alright if we went into he living room?" she question.

Kitty nodded, "Oh sure…"

Hyde watched as Angela got ready to help his surrogate mother out of her seat and quickly jumped to their sides.

"Here. Let me help." He said before bending down to help Kitty on her feet.

Eric watched Hyde and Angela carefully help his mother into the next room. He knew both of them knew what they were doing so he really had no reason to worry or watch over them. Everyone else in the room seemed to have the same thoughts Eric noticed as he watched how they all went on to do their own things.

Donna and Randy were in their own world, lost in some conversation about wedding plans. Fez and Kelso went back to working on breakfast, with Kitty no longer watching over them they could do whatever they wanted with the food. That was good news for them but not anyone else really. And Jackie…Jackie was really unusually quiet.

Actually Jackie being quiet was beyond unusual.

Eric looked on at Jackie while she finished preparing her coffee. He noticed that she hadn't made eye-contact with him or anyone else for that matter since she'd entered the kitchen with Angela. She just went on with fixing her coffee until finally she had it just the way she liked it.

When Eric saw the silver spoon stop its twirling in the coffee mug and then be pulled out by Jackie's delicate hand, he straightened himself out ready for her to at last look at him and say something.

But she didn't. She didn't even look his way. All the tiny brunette did was bring the cup to her lips and take a sip as she turned on her heel and headed in the same direction that Kitty had just been helped through.

Eric definitely didn't see that coming and the confused scowl sketched onto his face showed it.

He really thought Jackie was going to look at him. He hoped she would look his way. He really thought she was going to say something to him. He hoped she would say something, say anything.

Watching her make her way to the swinging door, Eric knew he couldn't let her just walk away like that. He took a quick scan of the room to make sure the others were still entertained by whatever they were doing. Seeing that they were, Eric hastily walked behind Jackie.

"Jackie, wait." He called out loud enough for her to hear, but still soft and low so no one else could.

Though she really didn't want to deal with this now, Jackie turned herself around and faced the once scrawny twitchy boy that use to only really talk to because of the people they each knew. Boy had things changed.

She didn't say a word but the look in her eyes told Eric to speak.

"Um, hey." He greeted with a nervous smile and matching wave.

"Hi." Jackie greeted while not being able to stop the tiny smile that had made its way to her lips, he really was adorable when he was nervous. Wait…no he wasn't…at least he wasn't before…and he wasn't now…well maybe a little...

Eric noticed how Jackie stopped talking once again for several seconds, before her smile disappeared from her face. That couldn't be good."

"Um…Jackie…" he struggled, not seeing that smile he had started to become quite fond of worried Eric and made him have trouble with his words. "Do you wanna talk?"

"Sure." She replied quickly, surprising Eric.

"Really?" he asked in shock, "I mean great. Ok well about…"

"Good morning." Jackie interrupted, her smile back on her face.

Though Eric was confused by Jackie's sudden interruption and the statement she'd interrupted with, he was glad to see that lovely grin back on her face.

He let his own smile make an appearance, "Good morning."

"How're you doing?" she asked causally.

Eric nodded "Pretty good. I mean I'm…."

"Ok we talked. And now we're done."

Eric's eyes widened with surprise at Jackie's words. They'd barely said anything! They hadn't even touched on the subject he really wanted to discuss. Why was Jackie acting do weird?

He looked around the room making sure everyone else was still preoccupied. The men in the room seemed to be, but conversation over by the swinging door had started to get Donna's attention. Eric wanted to talk about this whole thing to Jackie so badly he didn't even notice.

"Jackie, no." Eric called after her as she tried to make an exit, "I think we should talk. About…last night."

Jackie turned back around and looked up at Eric, a serious look in her mismatched eyes.

"Yeah? Well I think we should be in there finding out how Mom's doing." Jackie firmly told him as she pointed at the kitchen door, "And I don't know about you but that's what I'm going to do."

She'd said what she need to say, so she headed to the swinging door once again and this time Eric didn't stop her.

0o0o0o

Several minutes later Jackie found herself sitting on the old yellow couch in the living room looking on as Angela continued with the usual routine she had when ever she came by.

The nurse was talking on and on. Most of the things were probably things Jackie should have been listening and paying attention to, but could keep her full attention on Angela or Kitty. She tried to, she really did but something always drifted it right back to the person sitting next to her on the sofa.

Eric had come into the living room not two seconds after Jackie had.

When Jackie had first seen him come into the room she wasn't sure how to feel. She was torn between being happy that he was in here—showing his concern for his mother—and feeling anxious about him following her in her—she really didn't want to talk to him about last night.

She'd made a decision to just ignore him, but that plan had failed when he decided to take the open seat at her left. Her mind went from taking notes on Kitty's medication refills to how good Eric smelled; then it went back to where Kitty was sitting in Red's green chair and she listened to Angela's small talk only to float back over to Eric and wondering how he smelled so good without his cologne.

Eric's focus wasn't exactly on finding out how his mother was doing either. He was able to listen to Angela's word for about three minutes before tuning out. It wasn't that did didn't care, he followed Jackie into the room fully intending to listen up and find out anything he needed to know; but then he took the seat on the sofa.

He didn't plan it that way…well not really. But there wasn't anywhere else to sit. His mom was in the armchair. Hyde was already standing and Eric thought it might be a little awkward. Of course he could have sat on the piano bench, but it was farther away from where Angela and the group were. And he wasn't about to sit on the floor, so that left only the sofa. Next to Jackie.

It was a good thing he'd chosen to sit on the left side of the couch; this allowed him to look over at Jackie, while still seeming to be watching the three people over by his father's chair. His thoughts went from wondering if she was upset with him about last night's kitchen scene to noticing how gorgeous she looked with her hair pulled up in that messy ponytail.

Luckily no one appeared to have noticed that Eric's eyes were fixed on Jackie. Jackie kept her eyes, though not her mind, on the scene infront of her. Hyde and Angela's attention stayed over where they stood with Kitty. And Kitty was probably too distracted by Angela's questions.

"And you've been taking all of your medicines, on time?" Angela asked Kitty.

Kitty nodded, "Yes."

"Good." Angela smiled, "When was the last time you started feeling sick?"

"Um Wednesday night." Hyde answered.

"Last night." Kitty said at the same time as her adopted son said his response.

Hyde frowned hearing what Kitty had said. He didn't know anything about. Why didn't anyone get him?

Hyde's attention wasn't the only one caught by Kitty's words. Eric tore his eyes of Jackie and worriedly looked over at Hyde, keeping his eyes down at his fists. Any movement there and he'd be ducking down faster than those 'Whack a Mole' games.

Jackie kept her cool on the outside but inside she was really worried. Things were going really good with Eric and Steven, she didn't want to take a step backwards with them. She had too much to deal with already.

"What?" he asked trying to keep his Zen as he looked over at the couple on the couch, "Why didn't anyone get me?"

"Because Eric and Jackie took care of me." Kitty answered instead. She'd noticed her children's different reactions and knew it would be for the better if she answered Hyde's question, "And they did a very good job."

Kitty sent a smile over to Jackie and Eric, giving them a silent 'it's okay.' In response to Kitty's grin, Jackie and Eric both smiled back feeling very relieved. Seeing the family smile made the corners of Angela's mouth twitching.

Yes, everyone in the Forman living room was smiling…well almost everyone.

"What exactly happened last night?" Angela asked the trio.

Hyde furrowed his brow slightly as he listen to his ex-girlfriend and surrogate mother's explanations—along with Eric's occasional add in.

He didn't understand why he'd been left out of the loop last night with Kitty. Whenever Kitty got sick before and Jackie was with her, she got him to help out. Sure this time she had Eric there but Eric…Eric and Jackie had been spending a lot of time together and they were both alive and seemed pretty much unharmed.

Something was going on there.

"Oh and then she pressed that button thing." Eric explained, bring Hyde back to reality, "I got her to."

Angela smiled kindly, "Well it's a very good thing that you did, Eric."

"It is?" Eric asked feeling a combination of surprise and confusion.

"Yes." The young woman nodded her head, "The morphine dispenser is one of the things that's made your mom feel so much better today."

Eric was still amazed. His few words of getting his mom to press a button that he really didn't know what was for, was one of the reasons that his mom was feeling good.

"Really?" he questioned and when he saw both nurses nod to confirm, his grin turned into a proud one.

Seeing Eric smile proudly made Jackie happy. She was glad that he was starting to feel better about himself and feel more confident about taking care of his mom.

"Well if there aren't anymore questions, I think I'll go ahead and let you all get back to your breakfast." Angela announced to the group, who simply nodded.

As Angela began to pack up her things, Jackie stood up and walked over to where Kitty and Hyde were—prepared to help Kitty make her way to the back to the kitchen. When she turned back to where she had previously been sitting she saw that Eric was no longer there and was instead making his way over to where she was.

Jackie slightly began to panic. If Angela left then Eric would try talking to her about the thing that's happened last night. And she just ready to talk about that.

"Um Angela, wait!" the petite brunette, practically shouted, "Eric has some questions he wants to ask you."

Jackie then proceeded to push Eric forward and closer to where Angela stood. Eric was taken by surprise and almost fell on top of Angela, luckily he'd regained his balance and managed to stand up straight before turning his neck to send a frown Jackie's way. Jackie said nothing and only gave him a look that said 'go on.'

She hadn't been lying, there were question Eric had for Angela. The ones that hadn't been answered on that list he'd made days ago. There were at least a good fifteen. The only problem was Eric could remember one.

"Uh…um…do…uh…" Eric stumbled over his words trying to remember any of questions from the list, "How long have you been a nurse?"

It wasn't a question that was on Eric's list but he had to say something, Angela was beginning to look at him as if he were crazy.

That look soon vanished and her smile reappeared as she answered the question, "Six years."

Eric nodded his head trying to buy him some time so he could think of another question.

"Um…do you like your job?" he asked not really knowing where that question had come from.

"Yes." Angela nodded, "I've wanted to be a nurse since I was a little girl."

Eric nodded his head along with Angela's words. Those two pretty pathetic questions were really enough for him now, but two seemed to little. He could at least throw in one more.

"When're you coming back?"

"Well I usually come every other day so I'll be here Sunday." She replied and noticed the tone in Eric's voice that told her there most probably be the last question. "Well Eric, if those are all the questions you can remember right now I think I should be heading off. And if you can remember anything else feel free to call the hospice."

"Oh ok." He answered smiling a small smile, he liked this Angela, "Thanks."

"Sure thing." Angela said with a smile and gathered her things in her arms, "I'll see you all on Saturday then. Mrs. Forman, don't forget to rest."

Kitty smiled, "I won't, don't worry."

"Alright, um Steven?" Angela called turning to the curly haired man, "Would you walk me out?"

Hyde defiantly heard the words, but was too surprised that they were directed at him to actually say something. He tried not to let his surprise show on his fac as he turned to look to his left and then his right.

He looked back at Angela when he saw no one standing on wither side, "Me?" he asked point his index finger at his chest.

"Is there any other Steven in here?" Kitty asked teasingly.

"Uh no." Hyde replied and then realized what he'd said, "I mean yes. No… I mean…Sure Angela, I'll walk you to your car. Come on."

Hyde and Angela exited through the front door leaving behind the small soft giggles coming from the two women in the room. Eric didn't release any sort of laugh but did half to smile at his friend's unusual un-Zen actions.

"Oh my," Kitty breathed still staring at the closed door, "It is so sweet seeing Steven so love-struck."

Jackie smiled and sat on the arm of the pea soup colored chair, "Yeah, it is."

Eric turned his head to Jackie as he heard what she said. Did she really mean those words? Was she really completely over Hyde like she said she was? Or was she only saying that because he and Kitty were in the room?

He now had a million and two questions for her.

0o0o0o

Hyde and Angela walked off the small porch and onto the slippery walkway in silence.

"Um there's a reason I asked you to walk me out." Angela finally spoke, "I wanted to ask you a question."

A question? Hyde felt the unfamiliar feeling of butterflies flying around in his stomach. He wondered what kind of question it was and why they had to be alone for her to ask.

"Uh ok. Shoot."

The two stopped walking and stood in the cold. Hyde wished he was wearing some thicker clothes than the sleeping clothes he was wearing now, but he tried to keep his mind off the chilling wind blowing.

"I know it's really none of my business but I've been with Mrs. Forman and you all for a while now and…" she drifted off as she tried to think of the right way to say the next part, "I haven't seen Mr. Forman in awhile. Not even when you and Jackie first brought Mrs. Forman to the hospital last week. Is everything ok?"

Hyde frowned as he understood just what Angela was asking.

"You mean between Mom and Red? Yeah no, things are good. Believe me there's really nothing that can tear those two kids apart." He said with a joking smile that faded as he remembered it wouldn't be long before something finally did separate the two. He cleared his throat and decided to continue, "Uh Red's over in New York at a Veteran Convention. He left before Mom went to the hospital and she did want us calling him and making him rush home."

"Oh." Angela said, nodding her head.

"Yeah…I called him anyways." He confessed and was happy to see it had made her smile, "I know I probably should've listen to her done what she wanted, but I really thought Red should know what was going on. And she really does want him here. He was supposed to be home yesterday but his plane got stuck in Chicago so hopefully he'll be in today."

"That's good to hear. You did the right thing calling him." She said to him, "I hope Mr. Forman gets here today."

The softer tone Angela had used in that last sentence caught Hyde's attention.

"She's getting worse isn't she?"

Angela stared at the man who she wasn't use to seeing without his aviator sunglasses. He really did have beautiful blue eyes, right now though those eyes were full of worry and sadness.

"I'm afraid so." She said softly and Hyde right away covered his eyes with his left hand. "The process is still going slow and her medication is helping her with the pain. That's good. What's even better is that you all are helping her through it too."

Hyde removed his hand and felt the soft touch of a small gloved covered hand on his arm. He looked over at the smiling brunette and she continued.

"The breakfast idea was great, but I could tell you weren't the biggest fan of the idea."

Hyde opened his mouth to protest but was too late as Angela had already started talking once again.

"It's understandable really. You want Mrs. Forman upstairs resting and not using so much of her energy and strength on others." Angela went on and Hyde had to nod his head, that was how he felt. "But it is important for her to do the things she loves while she still can. And she really did look so much happier than I've seen her in awhile."

"Yeah but what about…"

Angela cut Hyde's question off a lot sooner as she already knew what he was going to ask and already had the answer.

"Yes, it's important for her to get her rest, but she wants to spend more time with you and the rest of her family." She explained, "Maybe if you guys took turns visiting with her during the day while she's up in her room. Just talking and keeping her company."

"Like taking shifts?" he asked.

That idea had been suggested earlier and he'd shot it down almost as soon as it was brought up. However now that Angela had said it, it did sound pretty good. And she was a nurse so she had to know what she was talking about.

Hyde nodded his head, "That's a pretty good idea."

Angela shrugged her shoulders as she walked over to the driver's side of her car and opened the door.

"It's just a thought really." She said, "You don't have to do it…"

"No," Hyde said, this time being the one to interrupt "It's a good thought. Thanks." He finished with a smirk.

Angela smiled back and nodded, "Remember if you have any questions, just give me a call."

"Right." Hyde said, moving his head up and down for several seconds, gathering his courage to say more.

"Hey Angela." He called out, stopping her form climbing into her car.

"Yes?"

"Uh…" he struggled for a few seconds before he realized how much he was acting like Forman and then quickly asked his question, "You think it'd be ok if I called you and…didn't have any questions?"

Angela's smile grew at Hyde's question, "Sure." She nodded, "I'd like that."

"Alright. Cool." Hyde said coolly, back in his Zen manner.

He then watched as Angela got into her vehicle. He waited until she had the car started up before heading back into the house.

With one hand on the doorknob, Hyde turned back around to give Angela one final wave. She waved back and then Hyde turned back around ready to go back into the warm home. Only thing was he forgot he hadn't opened the door and crashed his forehead into the piece of the wood.

So much for cool.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__There you go Chapter 23 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Is Red coming home today? Will the gang be taking shifts with Kitty? Is something starting to click between Hyde and Angela? Will Eric ever be able to remember his questions for Angela? Will he ever be able to talk to Jackie about the kiss? And why doesn't Jackie want to talk about it? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	25. A Green Leprechaun Suit

_**Disclaimer: **__I still own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello Everyone! I know, I know, I'm late. I'M SORRY! But the family and I went to the beach again for my sister's birthday. Only this time I brought my Mom's computer so I could put up the new chapter on Monday. But guess what happened! I forgot my pen drive at the house! I could have thrown myself out our balcony! Not only was not able to post the new chapter but I couldn't work on anything! I am pretty behind now. And tomorrow I'm off on the road again to see some old friends, so don't know if Monday there will be a new chapter. I'll try my best tho! Gonna try and work on the upcoming chapter tonight after I unpack from the beach and repack for the next trip. Hopefully I won't forget my USB this time! Couple of notes. First this is just a little short chapter to hold you guys over for awhile! And as always I am not a doctor or training to be one. I have been watching a lot of House tho. That guy is just too funny! So here you go Enjoy!_

* * *

"_Talking"_

"_Talking?" Hyde repeated, changing his tone to make it sound like a question._

_Kitty nodded her head, "Yes. And listening. Talking and listening can help any problem."_

"_Really?" Hyde asked._

"_Really. Just look at the time way back with you and Jackie." Kitty began to say, "When she took that job in Chicago and then you well you did what you did…"she looked straight at the camera, "Kids, if he told you the story, then I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about, if not…well he just well…"_

"_Acted like a complete dumbass?" He finished for her, when he saw how she was struggling for her words._

_Kitty frowned just slightly, "Now Steven…you weren't a complete one."_

"_Thanks, Mom." He replied in a sarcastic tone._

"_Anyways the point is, if you and Jackie would have talked things out right away and listened to what each of you had to say, things wouldn't have gotten so messy." She continued, "Talking and listening is always the best solution to a problem. It may not make things perfect, but it'll make things better than they were before."_

_0o0o0o_

More than an hour had passed since Angela had left the house. Since then the mismatched family had had breakfast—which turned out not to be so bad tasting. They'd also gone into the living room to talk afterwards.

While it had been fun and there were plenty of laughs and stories told, after awhile all the moving around had started to take a toll on Kitty.

Fortunately Hyde and Eric had convinced Kitty to go upstairs and rest for an hour or two. Even more fortunate than that was, Kitty didn't put up a fight and agreed with her two boys.

Once Kitty was back in her bed, the remaining party started splitting up through-out the house.

Eric had stayed upstairs with his mother, spending a few minutes with her before Hyde came into the room.

While Hyde didn't kick Eric out and the two men could have stayed with Kitty together—their friendship was almost back to the way it was before Eric had left—Eric felt he should leave. He'd been spending a lot more time with his mom and that was taking time away from Hyde. Eric could tell Hyde was missing the times with just himself and Kitty. And Eric was happy to let him have some more of those times like that.

He'd meant what he'd said before to Hyde. Kitty was really a mother to them both.

After receiving a nod and a smirk—that was very close to a genuine smile—from Hyde, Eric left his parents room and headed over to Jackie's.

He had hoped to find the tiny brunette in the room, but what he did find was almost as good.

Placed carefully on the made bed, were two small squares. A grin sprung to Eric's face as he recognized just what those items were. His pair of dark blue jeans and his black polo shirt.

Two crumbs! Two pieces of his luggage! Not one but two!

Eric just about jumped in the air and squealed as he held tightly onto his clothes. He was so excited that he had a new outfit and could finally change! He was just about to do just that when a thought entered his mind.

Jackie had remembered what he'd said last night. Last night before their kiss. Before this mess. This mess that he was going to pick up.

Throwing the clothing, he had just been ready to have a part for, back on the mattress, Eric opened up the bedroom door and jogged out of the room.

0o0o0o

It took Eric a good few minutes to finally locate the missing brunette. But when he really stopped to think about it the basement should have been one of the first places he should have looked.

As Eric walked down the wooden steps to the basement, he saw Jackie standing over by the washer and deepfreeze.

She had yet to notice him and he thought he might be able to sneak up and surprise her. However when he saw Jackie's actions he was the one who was surprised.

Jackie leaned down into one of the machine, but not the deepfreeze like Eric had thought she'd do. She had leaned into the washing machine, pulling out the wet comforter—the same comforter that Eric had taken off his mother's bed last night.

And the surprises didn't stop there. After Jackie had gotten the blanket out of the aged green machine, she proceeded to put the sheets into the matching dyer. And then set the knobs on top before starting the appliance!

"Whoa, Jackie Burkhart doing laundry." Eric said out loud as he stepped down the last two steps, "Talk about a once in a lifetime chance. Wish I had my camera."

Getting over the slight startle he'd give her, Jackie turned towards Eric and smirk.

"Well I know I don't need mine. Eric Forman making a smartass comment, just an ordinary everyday day."

"Ah but!" Eric said lifting his index finger in the air, "With each new day comes a new smartass comment."

Jackie shook her head, trying not to let him see her smile and urge to laugh, "What're you doing down here?"

Eric shrugged his shoulders in response, "Nothing. Just walking around. I'm glad I found you though. Now that you're done with the laundry I thought maybe we could sit down and…"

Alarm suddenly filled Jackie. She couldn't sit down with Eric. What if what happened last night happened again? Although would that really be so terrible? No, not…yes, yes it would. Jackie shook her head ending the argument there.

"Ugh yeah, that sounds nice Eric, but I really can't right now." She told him as she scanned her eyes around the room looking for something that would help her come up with excuse. Plus it was keeping her from seeing the disappointed expression Eric wore.

"I have to go check on your mom." She stammered.

"Hyde's up there with her." Eric informed.

"Oh." She said before quickly thinking up another reason, "I did promise Betsy I'd take her to the store, so I better…"

"Brooke just started to put her down for her nap."

Jackie rapidly blinked her eyes, fighting back the urge to glare at him. But really how the hell did he know wall these things?

Coming up with another excuse, and excuse she thought was very good and very truthful, Jackie said, "Well I've got to get to Donna help her with the wedding plans. If she's left to do it alone her wedding dress will be plaid!"

Jackie turned herself to the stairway only to turn back around when Eric spoke.

"Her and Randy went back to 'The Hub.'" He explained "Apparently Randy really likes the place."

Jackie inwardly sighed, before she began racking her brain. There had to be someone left in this house that wasn't busy…besides Eric of course. Then it hit her and she practically smiled at Eric.

"I have to go check on Fez and Kelso." She informed and then pointed her finer to make her point stronger, "And it doesn't matter what they're doing, I still have to make sure they haven't or aren't going to set anything on fire."

"Jackie, why don't you wanna talk to me?" Eric questioned, stopping Jackie form stepping on the third step from the floor.

"What do you mean?" she asked turning around, "We're talking right now!"

Eric ignored the playful tone of voice she used and went on, "Not about last night. About what happened. About our…"

"Eric, I do want to talk to you about all that stuff." She vaguely lied, "I'm just a very busy girl who really doesn't have time to talk."

"You don't have five minutes?" he asked sounding both hopeful and abit upset.

Jackie looked down at him and sighed, "Eric, you and I both know that talk will take more than five minutes."

But Eric wasn't ready to give up, "Ok, so six minutes!"

"Eric…"

"Alright, alright. I'll let you go if you just answer this one little question for me." Eric told her almost pleading, "Then I'll just wait until you have the time to talk."

She wasn't quite sure how it happened, one minute she was looking up skyward and the next her eyes were back on Eric's as she told , "Ok."

Eric smiled only slightly and he nodded his head once, "Ok." He paused for a few seconds, making sure this question was the one he wanted to ask. And then he glanced up at Jackie again.

"What did that kiss mean?"

Jackie was surprised by the question. She hadn't expected this one little question Eric said he would ask to be so huge and meaningful. It was the question that summed up everything! The guy was very clever; Jackie had to give him that.

Looking back down at Eric, Jackie saw his large green eyes staring back up at her. She could see the smidge of hopefulness and worry in them. Jackie sighed and closed her eyes. She knew her answer. And she knew what she had to say.

She reopened her eyes to look at Eric, only to turn away from them seconds later.

"Nothing." She said in almost a whisper.

But Eric had heard her. And her words…well technically word, had confused him.

_Nothing_? That was not what he thought she's day. Maybe something like _'I don't know' _or reversing the question back to him like '_what do you think_?' He even thought she would have said, _'We'll talk about it later.'_ Never had he thought she'd say a flat out _nothing._

Especially since the word nothing wasn't at all on the list of words he'd use to describe that kiss.

"Jackie, wait." He called after her, she hadn't moved up but one step, "Nothing? That can't be right. I was there that kiss was not a nothing kiss."

Jackie opened her mouth to speak but Eric wasn't quite finished yet.

"I mean don't know what that kiss was but I know it wasn't nothing. That kiss was…it was…" he drifted off slightly at the memory of the soft lips against his and her skillful tongue, "I don't think I've ever been kissed like that. That was a really, really good kiss."

Jackie smirked in response, "Of course it was. You were kissing me."

Eric gave a small laugh at the slight humor and then released a smug smile as he caught on to smoothing.

"Hey look, I got you talking about it." He pointed out with a grin.

As soon as he said the words out loud, Jackie's smile faded away and he immediately wished he'd kept the detail to himself.

"I…I have to go." She said before turning back around.

"Jackie, no wait. We were doing good." He said as he steeped up on the next step and gently grabbed onto her upper arm, "Just…just tell me how you think that kiss was nothing. Didn't you feel something?"

Jackie kept her yes on Eric, "I don't know…it was just nothing ok?" she asked not wanting an answer, but instead wanting the whole thing to be over with, "I felt…" she shook her head and went on, "Both those kisses meant nothing Eric."

With that said Jackie jerked her arm forward, releasing herself from Eric's loose grip.

Eric didn't seem to notice though as he remained in his own thoughts. They had two kisses. Two kisses threat weren't two minutes apart from the other.

He quickly broke out of his daze, just in time before Jackie took a step on the next wooden step.

"Jackie you just said it, there were two kisses." Eric called out, confusing Jackie and making her wonder what his point was, "One of them had to have meant something…"

"No Eric." Jackie answered almost harshly, before the young man could go on, "I'm sorry Eric, but both those kisses meant nothing." She said in a softer voice, "They weren't something. They weren't anything. They were nothing."

Jackie made another attempt to head up to the kitchen. This time Eric didn't stop her by grabbing onto her, but instead followed her up the steps.

"Jackie, I really don't believe you." He said as the continued to make their way up the stairs, "I mean there had to be a little of something. Of anything."

Both Jackie and Eric were so wrapped up in their conversation. One trying to make it continue on the other trying to make it end—that they didn't notice their foreign friend making his way down the same staircase.

"Oo what are we talking about?" he asked curiously, at last grabbing their attention if only for a second or two.

"Nothing." Jackie and Eric answered before stomping their way up the final steps to the kitchen.

Fez scowled as he watched his friends' strange behavior. The whole scene made him very curious.

"Hmm. That did not seem like nothing." He said to himself, "This looks like a case for Sherlock Fez!" he announced proudly before remembering why he'd come down to the basement, "But first Bugs Bunny!"

0o0o0o

As Jackie entered the Forman kitchen, she silently breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the room was empty. She had a good feeling Eric wasn't done talking about what had happen last night and there was really no need to involve anyone else.

"Jackie, I don't know what those kisses meant either but I know it wasn't nothing." Eric continued to ramble on, "Maybe you just answered to quickly, so I'd get off the subject already. Maybe…"

"Eric!" Jackie practically yelled out, "Stop. Ok? Just stop. You know the kisses were nothing. You just said so!"

Eric quickly recalled answering Fez's question with 'nothing.'

"Yeah," Eric nodded, "To Fez!"

"He's still a person, Eric." Jackie stated, "A foreign person, which kinda makes him less important than the rest of us. But he's still a person!"

"Jackie…" Eric began to say only to be interrupted by the ringing coming from the telephone.

Jackie turned away from Eric and over to the phone only to look back at Eric.

"I have to get that." She told him, even though she really didn't it was probably those damn telemarketers.

"Just give me a second, Jackie." Eric said, "Please?"

Jackie sighed before grudgingly nodding her head, and trying to tune out the ringing in the room. "Ok."

"Ok. Jackie, this isn't the way I wanna talk about this. I think we really should set some time aside so we can talk about what happened. Because I think it's important for us to talk about it." Eric said to her, keeping eye contact with Jackie the whole time.

The phone continued to ring in the background.

"Because…because I've really liked this thing we had going you know? Ever since the beginning…I mean not the very beginning when we first met because you were the devil when we first met." He said hoping to add a bit of humor, "But since the beginning of this trip, you've been there for me helping me out and standing up for me. I've really liked this friendship thing we've kinda started. And I…I don't wanna mess it up."

Jackie felt a familiar sting as she nodded her head, "I don't wanna mess things up either."

Eric took a step closer to Jackie, ready to get more in depth with the conversation, but Jackie had quickly turned herself around—giving her back to Eric—to answer the phone after the eleventh ring.

"Hello?" she said and then paused for a second or two, "Oh hi Jen! No, I don't think I'm going into work today… Yeah, she's still doing pretty bad. She said she was feeling good today and she even looks better but just to be on the safe side you know?"

Still standing the few feet away from her, Eric watched Jackie talk over the phone with someone he assumed she worked with. It shouldn't take too long, after all his phone calls with co-workers never lasted more than five minutes.

"Do you think you could…" Jackie drifted off for a few seconds, "Yes! You could? Thanks so much. I'll owe you one. I think I only had one client coming in today. Mr. Stewart. Yeah the old guy that looks like The Skipper."

Of course this was Jackie and she could talk for hours. Something told Eric that this phone call between employees would take more than five minutes. His and Jackie's talk would have to be put off once again

Seeing that Jackie was distracted with her phone call, Eric slipped out of the kitchen and through the swinging door to the living room.

"The last time I talked to him, he said he was looking for a new set of leather gloves, some more button down shirts…a couple of new ties…and…a green leprechaun suit." Jackie paused for a few seconds, waiting to see if Eric would come back into the room after hearing her say those words.

But the swinging door remained closed. Jackie exhaled softly before placing the receiver back on the hook.

Whoever had been on the phone when she and Eric had first entered the kitchen had hung up just before Jackie picked up the phone. She'd faked the entire conversation with her 'co-worker.' She didn't even work with a Jen!

Jackie just had to get Eric out of the room. She knew they had to talk about what had happened last night at some point. But that point couldn't be right now. It just couldn't. After all how was she supposed to talk about what a kiss meant for her and Eric, if she herself still wasn't sure what the kisses had meant to her.

There were only a few things Jackie knew about those kitchen kisses. They'd happened. They needed to be discussed. And they were two of the best kisses of her life.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__There you go Chapter 24 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Who had called the Forman home? Will Sherlock Fez solve this case? When will Jackie and Eric sit down and talk about their kisses? What did those kisses mean to Jackie? And will that poker game ever happen? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	26. So Much

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hiya everyone! Sorry I'm a day late, and so late in the day! Wanted to post earlier but my internet connection was giving me a hard time. But everything's all fixed now…for now. And I've got the latest chapter! Not the longest chapter, but longer than last weeks…which was also very tardy. Um Anywoo quick reminders. I am not a doctor or a nurse or anything in the hospital doctor area. Do have a doctor's appointment coming up but it's just for some shots…still trying to figure out how to get out of those. Thanks so much for the reviews you guys, I love them and you guys! And please new readers or those of you who have been reading but not reviewing, it's never too late to leave a quick note! Well I really don't have much to say so lets go on with the chapter. Enjoy!_

* * *

_Hyde switched the camera to his other shoulder once again—the thing was pretty heavy—before asking his surrogate mother the next question._

"_So you and Red were together while he was in the war, right?"_

"_That's right." Kitty replied with a smile and a nod, "When he was fighting over in Korea we were together. We were a little past courting but weren't engaged yet."_

_Hyde nodded behind the camera, "So did you guys do the whole Hollywood cliché thing? The sending photos, care packages, exchanging letters?"_

"_Steven." Kitty said shaking her head slightly, "Those aren't clichés. Those are things people really were doing. Including Red and me."_

_Kitty's small smile grew as she began to recall a certain memory in her mind._

"_Then when Red came back home, we did another 'cliché.'" She said, still smiling, "I ran into his arms and gave him a big welcome home kiss. And Red promised me we'd never be apart that long ever again. And now over thirty years later, he's kept that promise."_

0o0o0o

"Forman man, hurry up and get down here!" Hyde called from his old chair.

"Be right there, Hyde!" Eric yelled from up in the kitchen.

The gang were all down in the basement, except for Eric who'd been upstairs for the past five minutes. Hyde impatiently was sitting in his regular chair by the washer and dryer. On the old beaten up sofa were Fez, Donna and Randy—in that order. Kelso had taken up the lawn chair, with his wife happily on his lap. And Jackie was sitting on the floor between the couch and the lawn chair with Little Betsy, a pile of Barbie dolls and Barbie clothes scattered around them.

"What do you think of my new outfit?" Betsy had her doll ask Jackie's.

"Oh, Barbie!" Jackie exclaimed moving the blonde doll in her hands, "I love it. And to celebrate your beautiful outfit we should go shopping for more clothes. And shoes!"

Betsy looked up from her toys and up at her godmother. "Aunt Jackie, you play Barbie's a lot better than Uncle Fez."

"Well of course I do Betsy." Jackie said happily with a large smile as she pulled the little girl in for a hug, "I don't dress Ken up in Barbie's clothes."

Fez looked up from the large bag of M&Ms he was eating and his happy content face changed into an angry defensive look as he moved his eyes to Jackie and Betsy.

"Well excuse me, but it is not my fault that Ken looks so good in purple!" he declared loudly.

Jackie only brushed off his comment with a wave of her hand before going back to playing with Betsy. Meanwhile Donna couldn't help but smile and shake her head as she recalled the scene she had witnessed only a few minutes ago.

Fez throwing a fit because the two girls wouldn't let him play with them. He was really upset and his tantrum showed it. He kicked, pouted, stomped his feet, and was just about to reduce to tears when Brooke managed to settle him down.

"Nice with that bag of candy, Brooke." Donna stated to the librarian.

To keep Fez's tears from coming, Brooke had pulled out the bag of M&Ms from her purse, she had luckily left in the basement. And as soon as the bag was in Fez's hand he forgot who Ken and Barbie were.

Brooke merely shrugged her shoulders, "With these three kids, having candy close by comes in handy at come point or another."

Ignoring the conversation that was about him, Fez continued to enjoy his candy. He grabbed a handful of M&Ms and then dropped them all into his mouth, to only reach back into the back as he continued to chew.

"Ah, M&Ms the delicious candy of chocolate over chocolate with little…" Fez's thoughts were interrupted as he looked at the round blue candy he held in his hand.

He gasped loudly catching everyone's attention

Randy frowned, "What's wrong Fez?"

"This M&M…it does not have a little 'm' on it!" the foreigner said still in shock as he examined the piece of candy, "It is a 'w'!"

Out of the six pairs of eyes in the room, one remained on a Barbie doll, four pairs trolled their eyes, while one pair bulged out animatedly.

"No way!" Kelso shouted and then jumped out of his seat and sending Brooke to the floor with Jackie and Betsy. "Lemme see!"

Kelso then quickly made his way to his best friend's side eager to see the 'one of a kind' candy. He'd forgotten all about his wife on the floor and just left her to watched his action with a deep frown on her forehead.

"Michael!" she called out.

"Huh?" Kelso asked sounding confused until he saw the tall brunette on the floor, he then walked back over to her, "Oh sorry bout that Babe."

Brooke excepted her husband's extended hand and let him help her onto to her feet. She had thought he would say more or even give her a quick apologetic peck on the lips; instead though he just rushed back to where Fez was. But it didn't upset Brooke too much, at least he'd helped her off the floor.

"Oh man, can I hold it?" Kelso asked in a hopeful voice.

Fez glared at his man pretty friend, "No, I found it you sonofabitch!"

"Fez!" Brooke exclaimed along with the other two women in the room.

"But I wanna hold it!" Kelso shouted, ignoring the girls.

"But I found it!"

"Forman!" Hyde shouted almost angrily, but was really just annoyed with his two friends arguing over the candy, "Hurry the hell up!"

Randy looked over at his former employer and tried not to laugh, "Hyde, he said he was coming."

"Yeah, why are you rushing him down here?" Donna questioned with crossed arms, "What's the big deal?"

"Nothing, alright." Hyde said not sounding too convincing, "I just have some stuff to say and I need you guys to all be here. But Forman's take his sweet…" a glare from Jackie got him to change his next word, "…butt time getting down here. I don't have all day. There's things I've gotta do."

Jackie nodded while she used the small pink brush to comb the Barbie doll in her hand, "You're right Steven, you do have things to do. After all, you miss one episode of your soaps and you'll be lost for the rest of the week."

While most of the group covered their mouths to keep from laughing at Hyde who was glaring at his ex-girlfriend from behind his sunglasses, both Fez and Kelso did the exact opposite.

"Haha Hyde watches soaps!" Fez exclaimed as he pointed his finger at the curly haired man.

"It's one soap."

"Haha Hyde watches a bar of soap!" Kelso laughed.

"Yeah, that's real funny Kelso." Hyde replied Zenly, "You know what else is funny? Turn that M&M upside down."

Fez and Kelso's laughs slowly died down as they heard Hyde's words and eyed the chocolate candy suspiciously. The two men looked at each other before Fez ever so carefully did as Hyde had said.

Once the blue candy had been turned around, both men felt a strong feeling of disappointment. The 'w' with a curved bottom they thought they had seen printed on the chocolate shell was actually just a regular lower case 'm.'

"Aye!" Fez whined throwing the candy back into the bag.

"Aw man." Kelso said as he sulked back to the lawn chair, "So much for us finding an inposer."

It was just a few seconds later that Eric made his way down to the basement, a small box in his hand.

"Sorry bout that. I was looking for something to eat but all there really is, is this box of Jell-O." he said as he neared his friends, of course he was exaggerating…but not by very much.

Fez's disappointment about the not fake M&M was soon a thing of the past, as his face lit up and reached for the Jell-O box.

"Oo! Oo! I want it!" he pleaded, "Give it to me!"

Donna furrowed her brow slightly, "Fez, you know how to make Jell-O?"

"What make?" Fez questioned with his own confused frown, "I'm eating that sucker like a Pixy Stix!" he declared before a dreamy smile appeared on his face as he thought about the powdered candy, "Oh Willy Wonka, what will you think of next?"

Eric shook his head and tried not to laugh, "Here Fez, knock yourself out." He said handing him the box and then looking over at his brother, "Mom's right we've gotta go to the grocery store."

"Yeah, alright Forman I'll put it on our list of things to do." Hyde replied in annoyed tone of voice, "But right now we've gotta make another list…"

"Oo can it be a list of best candies?" someone with an accent asked hopefully.

"No!" Kelso shouted before Hyde could answer, "We just make a list of the hottest chicks on TV!"

Fez nodded eagerly, "Oo that does sound like more fun."

"Number one's Jeanie!" Kelso shouted just as Fez declared something quite similar.

"Number one's Samantha!"

The two men slowly turned to look at the other. They glared angrily at each other. And then they were off in another one of their pointless battles.

Eric ignored the argument, that really only consisted of the names of the two women, and walked around the room to find somewhere to sit. He walked behind the couch and stopped infront of the old shower—the area where Jackie and Betsy were sitting.

Smiling, he crouched down next to the little girl.

"Hey Betsy," he greeted, "are you having fun playing Barbies with Jackie?"

"Uh huh." Betsy nodded her head and then lifted up her doll for Eric to see, "Doesn't Barbie look pretty?"

"She sure does. It looks like she's ready to go out to a fun party."

"She is!" Betsy said happily with a matching smile. The little girl was excited that someone knew what her plans were for Barbie even before she'd said them.

Eric smiled back and then looked over at Barbie in her purple aerobics outfit. "Well Barbie, have fun. But don't stay out too late young lady."

Hearing Betsy giggle, Jackie could help but let the twitching corners of her lips turn into a smile. Eric really was good with kids. Seeing him here with Betsy, it looked so natural. Maybe it was because he was a teacher.

Jackie kept her smile in place, maybe shrinking it just abit, as she expected Eric to look over at her and flash her one of his boyish grins. But he didn't. He didn't even look her way. He just stood back up and continued his journey to find a seat.

The grin on Jackie's face was now gone as she watched him walk away. How could he have not looked at her? She was Jackie Burkhart! And now he was taking a seat over on the Johnny Carson ottoman, one of the farthest seats from where she was sitting.

It was like he was avoiding her…like she had avoided him…

"Alright listen, we're not making some list of hot women from television, that would totally have Jeanie as number one…" Hyde began to explain.

"Yes!" Kelso exclaimed with a fits pumped in the air.

Hyde ignored the outburst and went on, "We're making a list of shifts." He explained grabbing the pen and paper he'd left of the round table.

"Shifts?" Brooke repeated.

"Yeah, for taking care of Mom." Hyde nodded, "Angi…Angela suggested it. This way we're all able to sit and visit with Mom, spend time with her like she wants; but since we'll be upstairs in her room she'll still be resting and taking it easy."

Jackie frowned slightly, she'd torn her attention off Eric when Hyde had said the word 'shifts.'

"So it would be like she was in the hospital?" she questioned, the whole thing sounding very familiar.

Hyde shrugged his shoulder, "Yeah, I guess you could put it like that."

Donna deeply frowned as she stared at the curly haired man she'd known for almost twenty years. She couldn't believed he was doing this.

"Hyde." She said, sounding upset, "Randy suggested that like two nights ago!"

The feather-haired man next to her nodded in agreement, "Yeah, and you like totally shot me down."

"I did?" Hyde asked with a confused scowl, "I don't remember that…do you guys?"

While Brooke and Jackie were ready to say that they did—that had been when they had joined in on the plan and made it one that would help Eric see Kitty—Kelso and Fez were ready to play along with Hyde.

The young foreign man shook his head, "Nope."

"Who's Randy?" Kelso asked pretending to sound baffled.

Hyde and Fez laughed along with Kelso while Jackie and Brooke showed their disappointment in the boys on their face. Eric just remained quiet and tried to keep his mind on something else. He didn't feel right in helping his friends tease his ex-girlfriends fiancé. Of course he didn't wanna defend the guy either.

Donna rolled her eyes and shook her head as the three laughing hyenas continued. Next to her, Randy looked anything but happy.

"You know, sometimes I feel like you guys don't want me here." He told the group, in a tone that was a mix between angry and hurt, "It's like you never even hear a word I'm saying."

Hyde stopped his chuckling and looked to Fez, "Hey Fez, did you hear something?"

Fez bit his lip and speedily shook his head and then burst out laughing, getting everyone else to join in. By that time, Brooke and Jackie were unable to keep their upset glares in place and had to let out a few giggles. And even Eric, who tried to keep his concentration on an old candy wrapper under the sofa, had to laugh; but covered his mouth with his hand so not to get in trouble.

"Randy said that you dillholes." Donna said sounding more annoyed than upset.

Kelso looked over at the couple and acted surprised, "Hey Randy when'd you get here?"

Randy looked about ready to stand up and leave this roast for him. Hyde took notice of the young man's appearance and decided to put an end to what he'd started.

"Alright Randy man, take it easy. We were only joking." He explained, "It's something we do with the new members of the group."

Hyde's words did come to Randy as some sort of relief. It was nice to know that they were only kidding…and it was a sort of welcoming into the group. He really was the newbie to the gang.

"I don't remember going through any of that." Brooke said out loud from her husband's lap. After all before Randy came along she was the newest member.

"That's cause you're a girl. And you were pregnant when you first started hanging around here." Hyde reminded, "Can't do anything to a pregnant woman."

Kelso nodded in agreement, "Yeah. Plus you came into the group cause of me and that's like a free pass through all the burns and stuff like that."

"Yeah, it's cause you were pregnant." Hyde said dryly, "Now back to what's important. Randy I know you suggested it and I figured since you've kinda already gone through this with your grandparents you'd help us out and make sure things don't get out of hand."

Randy lifted his chin and looked away, still slightly bothered from minutes earlier, "Maybe."

Hyde sighed before making his offer, "I'll give you the newsiest Journey album at half price."

"I'm in." Randy said almost too quickly.

"Alright." Hyde nodded, "I'm thinking we go with the whole two people at a time…maybe for a couple of hours say two maybe three. And I figure the kid here can go in pretty much whenever…" he said pointing at Betsy with the pen before starting to write on the sheet of paper.

"Donna, you and Randy probably wanna go in together. And Brooke you and Kelso cause you can keep him under control." Hyde went on and the two women nodded, "And you guys'll probably be getting the shifts during the day, the shorter ones. And the rest of us well get the longer ones at night."

"It'll be you and me, Fez. Then Forman you're with Jackie. Whoever has the last shift for the day will stay there for the rest of the night…"

"Oo yay! Slumber party in Miss. Kitty's room!" Fez cheered happily.

"No way Fez," Hyde said with a shake of his head, "I'm kicking you out after the third hour."

"But why?" he sulked.

"Cause you're Fez."

Fez's pout disappear and he nodded, "Good point."

Jackie tuned her ex-boyfriend out as she rambled on about the different times that could be set as shifts. She couldn't believe he had set her up to share her shift with Eric. What could have ever possessed him to do that? Sure she had suggested it herself the night the shift topic had first come up. But that was before. Before the kisses. Before they both started acting weird around the other.

She turned her attention to her soon shift partner, thinking he'd be looking over at her, feeling just as surprised as she was. But once again she was wrong and Eric wasn't looking at her, but instead had his eyes on a talking Hyde.

"So then I guess we'll start tonight which means you guys with the day shifts will start tomorrow." Hyde explained as he wrote things down on the paper, "let's say about seven is when Forman and Jackie'll going and then at about ten Fez and me will take over. Everyone ok with that?"

The majority of the room replied with a 'yes' or nodded their heads. And that was good enough for Hyde.

"Alright then." He said standing up from his seat, "I'm gonna go upstairs and check on a few things. I'll work on the schedule then show it to you guys at dinner."

"Check on things? Like if Melinda woke up from her coma yet?" Jackie asked teasingly, still upset with him.

Hyde stared back at the tiny brunette, "It's Melissa who's in the coma." With that said Hyde turned back around and headed up the basement stairs.

"Hyde, man wait up." Eric called out before racing over to the stairs and leaving the others to carry on with what they were doing in the basement.

Once the two men were in the kitchen, the conversation began.

"What's up, Forman?" Hyde asked looking down at his watch; he only had a few minutes.

"Uh nothing." He lied, "I was just wondering if we could like change partners. Like you and me could take our shifts together."

"That would leave Jackie with Fez, though." Hyde stated the obvious, "That's pretty cruel, man."

Eric nodded his head, "Yeah ok, ok. Um how about….how about if I wait for Red to come home and then take my shift with him."

"Yeah, I don't think so man." Hyde replied, "I don't even think Red's gonna follow this whole shift thing. Why don't you wanna be with Jackie?"

"No…no, it's not that. It's just…" Eric struggled, "Why'd you put the two of us together?"

"I saw you guys." Hyde said with a shrug.

Eric's eyes widened with fear. Had Hyde seen them kissing last night?

"What?" Eric asked in his high pitched squeaky voice.

"I saw the way you guys've been acting. Real chummy around each other." Hyde went on, "I figured you'd wanna spend some more time with your new buddy."

Eric ignored the slight teasing in Hyde's voice and started to think. When he saw Hyde move her wrist watch closer to his face, Eric smirked at his friend.

"Go watch your soap, Hyde." He said holding back a laugh.

"Thanks man," Hyde replied patting Eric on the back before dashing out of the room, letting Eric drift off into his own thoughts again.

Meanwhile only a few feet away, on the other side of the basement door, stood Jackie Burkhart.

She had headed up the stairs to get something for Betsy to drink, but stopped from entering the kitchen when she heard the two voice. She had heard almost the whole thing. How Eric wanted to switch shift partners. Why Hyde had put the two of them together. And how Eric would have rather had a shift with his father—whom days ago he was afraid of seeing—than with her.

Things couldn't go on like this. Something had to be done.

0o0o0o

Upstairs in the master bedroom, Hyde sat in the armchair looking through the photo album Eric had brought up last night while Kitty remained asleep in her bed. It had been about twenty minutes since the episode of _Days of Our Lives_ had finished, and Melissa was still in her coma.

Hyde smirked as he looked at the series of photos on the page. He'd take off his glasses and so he could see the pictures a lot clearer. They were of him, Eric, and Kelso making funny faces and grinning widely for the camera. They really shouldn't have been so inviting to the camera when they were younger, because that encouraged Kitty to keep taking all of those photos in their teenage years.

Of course right now, Hyde would give anything to see her smiling behind a camera again, taking thousands of different photos.

The somewhat comfortable silence came to an end, as Kitty began to moan in her sleep.

"Red…" she called out, her eyes still closed, alarming Hyde, "Red…" she repeated just abit louder this time.

Hyde put the book off to the side on the floor and leaned closer to Kitty, gently taking her hand in his.

"It's ok Mom." He said softly, "I'm here. It's me, Steven."

There was a moment of silence and Hyde had thought she'd fallen back into her slumber.

"Of course it's you, Steven." Kitty said still sounding drowsy as she opened her eyes, "Who else would you be?"

Hyde didn't say a word, but Kitty could see something in the expression he was giving her. And when she put that look together with the dream she had just woken up from, she had a good feeling at what had happened. And she felt slightly embarrassed about it.

"I was calling for him, wasn't I?"

Hyde slowly nodded his head, "Yeah."

Kitty gave a shy smile before closing her eyes once again. Hyde watched her carefully as he mentally debated if he should tell her the truth or not.

"Um Mom, I promise I won't call him." He began, it wasn't a lie because he'd already called and now he was waiting for Red to call back from the airport, "But…you want Red here don't you?"

Hearing her adoptive son's question, Kitty opened her teary eyes.

Of course she wanted Red here. He was her husband and she missed him. She wanted him to come back home soon, before she got even worse. She didn't want his last memories of her to be of her too sick and weak to do anything on her own. And she…she just wanted him here with her.

Sure, she had her children here surrounding her. And she loved having them all here together. But it wasn't the same, she still wanted Red.

When she was with Red was when she felt the safest, the most taken care of. Just him holding her in his arms made her feel so much safer, so much better. And she wanted to feel that way now.

Looking up at Hyde once again with her misty eyes, Kitty nodded her head.

"So much."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__And that would be Chapter 25 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_When is Red coming home? Will Hyde tell Kitty about Red coming home? What does Jackie have planned? Will she and Eric remain shift partners? How will the shifts work out? And when will Melissa wake form her coma? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until then, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	27. That Didn't Last Long

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone! So sorry for the late update. I know I didn't post yesterday and this posting is pretty late at night. Sorry! I really need to get a regular, normal sleep schedule. Especially now that summers almost over *sigh.* Hopefully this chapter will make up for my lateness. Couple of notes. First off thank you so much for all your kind words and reviews. They really mean so much to me. As do the alerts and favorites, so thank you for those too! Second please remember I am not a doctor nor am I training to be one and I didn't even catch House last week because I was out shopping. Hehe. Well for once I really don't have much to say, so you should enjoy it while you can lol. Thanks so much for everything, sorry I'm late and please Enjoy!_

* * *

_Hyde nodded as Kitty finished with her answer and then quickly thought of his next question._

"_So what about secrets" he asked._

_Kitty frowned slightly, "What about them?"_

"_Do you think they're good to keep?"_

"_No. Keeping things inside is never healthy." She began, "Of course that doesn't mean I think secrets are bad either. I do understand that some things just can't be shared with others…"_

"_Are you good at keeping secrets?" Hyde asked as Kitty began to drift off in her answer._

_Kitty straightened her posture and smile, "Yes, I am."_

"_Okay, Mom." Hyde scoffed._

"_I am very good at keeping secrets, Steven." Kitty protested looking more shocked and not hurt, "Like…oh I bet you don't know that when Eric was six years old he use to have this reoccurring nightmare. It was about one of those wind-up monkey dolls…you know the ones that would clap the cymbals together."_

_Hyde moved the video camera back so he could get a better view of his surrogate mother as she performed the actions of the toy she was describing._

"_Well anyways I don't remember what the dream was exactly about. But the poor dear was so frightened by it. And even today he's still scared of the toy…" Kitty suddenly stopped talking as she realized she had just told her son's secret to her adoptive son and anyone else who would later watch the video._

_She smiled weakly at the camera, "Oops. Sorry, Eric, honey." She said before breaking out into a nervous laugh._

_Hyde laughed from behind the camera, "That's a good one Mom."_

"_Never mind that." She replied, wanting to change the subject, "Back to secrets. I think it's better if you just come out with it and tell someone. Someone you trust. After all, if it's a problem that you're keeping as a secret that person could help you."_

"_And besides, you can only keep a secret so long before someone finds out." Kitty went on, "Especially in this family. There are no secrets in this family."_

"_You can say that again." Hyde said with a smirk and then a thought suddenly entered his mind, "Hey Mom, you think you can let me know when your planning on sending anything to Eric I wanna send him a little something from the toy store."_

_0o0o0o_

It was later on that same Friday, Eric was sitting in the kitchen enjoying the quietness as he read the Funnies in the days paper—even though it was well into the afternoon.

"Alright Forman, what's up with you?"

Eric looked up slightly surprised by who had said the words. It sounded like something his adoptive brother say to address him—the angry tone included—but instead of Hyde being the one who had said the words it was the petite brunette who had entered the room from the basement.

"Well nothing much really." Eric began to say, "Just sitting hear reading. You won't believe what Snoopy did to Charlie Brown."

Jackie frowned an intense frown as Eric lifted the paper containing the cartoons and began to point out a section to her.

"See in this square Snoopy's laying on his dog house, like he always does, and the Charlie Brown comes in and…"

"I don't care!" Jackie almost shouted as she snatched the comics out of Eric's hand, "I don't care what Snoopy did to you!"

"Me?" Eric asked softly with a confused frown, but Jackie only ignored him.

"What was _that_?" she asked, keeping her frustrated tone in her voice.

Eric looked up at her and tried to look innocent, "I asked 'Me?' Because I didn't get why you called me Charlie Brown…"

"Not _that_!" Jackie argued, getting more and more aggravated that she had to fight the urge to stomp out of the room, "_**That,**_ down in the basement!"

"_Ooohhh that_!" he said nodding his head as if he'd suddenly remembered what it was she was talking about, "That was all of us talking. Mostly about Mom and the shifts schedule…oh and the guys did get some burns on Randy in there…"

"Eric." Jackie said, not sounding so loud this time but still keeping her voice very firm, "You completely ignored me. What was that about?"

"That's right, I was ignoring you. Sorry bout that." Eric replied trying to seem naïve, but it only made Jackie's brows knit closer together "You know Jackie, I know you probably wanna talk about that right now, but I'm just not really ready to talk about it. I mean I think we should put off talk about what happened even though it's very important for us to discuss."

Jackie looked down at Eric and saw his mischievous smirk on his lips. She suddenly realized why he had been ignoring her. That whole thing he had just told her was pretty similar to the whole discussion about last night. Eric wanted to talk about it, but Jackie wasn't ready. They were putting off talking about it even though it was very, very important for them to discuss it.

She kept her multicolored eyes on his green ones as she shook her head, "You're a sneaky one, you know that?"

"Like a snake." Eric answered with a smug smirk.

Jackie lifted her right eyebrow "A snake?"

"Yeah," Eric nodded, "Cause you know it slithers around and…stuff."

Again Jackie shook her head; only this time she did it to hide her smile. Eric smiled back, especially when he caught the quick glimpse of her tiny grin. And then that smile grew as she took a seat in the green chair next to him.

Maybe she wanted to talk about last night now. But even if she didn't the smile on Eric's face would stay in its place. He really enjoyed her company.

"Okay fine." Jackie said as she got comfortable in her seat. "Let's talk about night. _But_! For the record your little trick did not work and we're talking about it now because I decided it was time, with no help from the peanut section."

Eric only nodded as he fought back the urge to chuckle at the sharp look Jackie was giving him as she pointed her index finger at him. He really didn't care who was the one who decided when was the time to talk about those kisses, he was just glad they were finally talking about it.

"Wait, are you calling me Charlie Brown again?" he asked with a frown.

His answer was a playful smack on the arm.

"Do you wanna talk about this or not?" Jackie questioned, no longer able to hide her smile from him.

Eric nodded, "No I do, I do. You're right."

"Ok." Jackie said with a nod.

"Ok." Eric repeated.

The two then fell into a long somewhat uncomfortable silence. They both sat in their seats and began moving their eyes to anything in the room that wasn't the person in front of them. Neither one of them knew how to start off or what to say once the conversation got going.

"_Sooo_…" Eric began, already showing how uncertain he felt, "You know maybe I was wrong and I was making to big deal about this. We don't really need to talk about what happened last night. I think we'll be ok…we were pretty good today. Let's just forget about the talking and I'll see you in Mom's room at seven."

Eric then stood up from his chair and was ready to walk out of the room when a small, soft hand grabbed a hold of his wrist. He looked over and saw Jackie before she gently pushed him back into his seat.

"No Eric, you were right. We need to talk about what happened, and the longer we put it off the harder it'll be to talk about later on." Jackie explained, "Now come on, we can do this. Why don't we start off with a question or something?"

"Yeah ok." Eric nodded, still feeling the butterflies in the stomach, "Questions are good. Ok."

"Ok." Jackie repeated Eric's word and his nod, she then looked at him with her own uneasy eyes, "You start."

"Uh…um…ok." He agreed, though was very much taken aback that she had suggested he start. It took him quite a few seconds to come up with a question to ask, but at last he did.

"Why did you kiss me?" he finally asked, keeping his voice gentle.

Jackie bit her lip before answering, "I don't know."

Eric nodded in response and then Jackie decided to repeat the question.

"Why did you kiss me?" she asked him in a similar to the one he used on her.

"I don't know." Eric replied.

Jackie nodded and then realized it was her turn to come up with a new question. She took a few seconds to think of one, but didn't take nearly as long as Eric had.

"How did those kisses make you feel?"

"I don't know." He said and then took a short pause before asking her the same question, "How did that kiss make you feel?"

She gave him the same answer in a soft voice, "I don't know."

"Well this is going really well." Eric said in a joking matter rather than a sarcastic one.

"Yeah," Jackie had to agree with a smile, "Maybe now we should try to answer those questions…honestly."

"Yeah. That sounds good." Eric nodded and then gulped, "Why did you kiss me?"

"Because _you_ kissed _me_ first. And that's the truth." Jackie reminded. Eric nodded understanding and then looked down at his hands, just that little gesture made Jackie feel a bundle of guilt inside her.

"But there's more to it." She added before taking a deep breath and explaining, "I guess seeing you with your mom and how you were helping out with her. You went from running out of the room to getting her to press that morphine button. I'm really proud of you Eric and I guess that kiss just seemed like a good way to show you just how much."

Jackie smiled at him and tiled her head slightly, "Plus all that time we'd been spending together, played a pretty big role in it too."

This extended sat a lot better with Eric. Still that last part seemed a bit open-ended. Eric waited for Jackie to elaborate on that last part of the answer but she just smiled shyly at him before asking him the question.

"Why did you kiss me?"

"Well," Eric began before taking a deep breath. She had been honest with him, so now he had to be honest with her, "You did look really beautiful that night. And…"

"Hold it a minute." Jackie ordered as she put her hand up in the air to stop him form continuing, "We said we were doing the honesty thing here. Now we both know I look good now, and I looked good earlier today, I'll even look good later on today. But that kiss happened at three in the morning. No one looks good at three in the morning."

Eric looked into her mismatched eyes, "You did."

Obviously touched by Eric's response, Jackie put her hand to her heart and smiled. He didn't say anything though because she knew his answer wasn't finished.

"And I guess it's like what you said about Mom. I saw you taking care of her and I thought about how good you were at it. How you must have done it a hundred times before, and how you've been taking care of both Mom and Red…just being here for them, when I couldn't be. I'm really thankful for that Jackie."

"I also agree with you about the time we'd been spending together play a part n why I kissed you." He said after a brief pause, "I mean, I just couldn't ignore some of those thoughts I had been thinking when I was with you."

This time Jackie was the one who waited silently, hoping the answer would be further explained. However after waiting almost a whole minute, she realized he was leaving his answer just as open-ended as she had. It was time for the next question.

"How did those kisses make you feel?" she repeated her question from before.

"Jackie, like I said before, those kisses weren't nothing. But…" he suddenly stopped talking as he felt a bundle of nerves starting to act up again.

Jackie noticed his nervousness and realized after what she had said to him earlier about the kisses, it was her fault he felt that way.

"Eric," she said in a soft voice, "Since we're being honest and all, I think there's something you should know. And I think I better say it before you give your answer. If that's ok with you."

He nodded his head in response happy that he had more time to think over his answer, "Yeah, no go for it Jackie."

"Ok." Jackie breathed before taking a deep breath and speaking again, "I lied about what said before about those kisses being nothing. They were really something. Something good. Like really, really good."

Eric grinned at the words he had heard and Jackie smiled back at him.

"That's it." She told him, "Now come on, answer your question."

Eric gave a small chuckle at how Jackie could go from feeling nervous and speaking softly to her loud bossy self.

"Alright, well you're right Jackie those kisses were really, really good kisses. They were pretty amazing." He began to explain, "And honestly, they're pretty hard to explain."

Jackie nodded for him to continue.

"I mean they felt like kisses I had never had before. I thought I had had some amazing kisses before but after those kisses last night the other kisses from before seem so…dull." He went on, "I don't know, it was just like…"

"Something clicked." Jackie finished for him.

Eric nodded, "Exactly."

"I know. I felt that same way too." She said so that this time the question wouldn't have to be repeated.

"Really?" he asked sounding hopeful.

"Yeah." Jackie nodded and smiled as she looked down at the table for only a second or two before looking back at Eric, "Can you imagine? The former cheerleader and nerd…"

Eric frowned as he began to protest, "Hey I wasn't a nerd!"

"Ok fine, the former cheerleader and geek." Jackie stated and saw that Eric was getting ready to argue so she jumped in, "You like _Star Wars_. You're a geek."

He couldn't argue against him liking _Star Wars_, so he just nodded in agreement.

Jackie gave a small laugh, despite the tinge of sadness in her eyes, "It's kind of funny to think about huh?"

"I don't really think so." Eric began to say and then shrugged his shoulders, "I mean I guess it's funny in the 'Knock, Knock' joke way. But not in _The Three Stooges _way."

"_The Three Stooges_?" Jackie repeated in a questioning tone.

Eric smiled and nodded, "Yeah, they're funny guys. That 'Slowly I Turned' sketch, classic."

"That's the one where they keep beating up poor Curly." She said with a scrunched up nose.

"Jackie, they always beat up 'poor Curly.'" Eric stated.

"I like the pie fight better." She shared with him.

"The pie fight?" Eric asked sounding shocked, "Everybody does that fight now."

"Right, but the stooges were the ones who started it all."

"True very true." Eric agreed as he waggled his index finger at her, "Hey do you remember the one where they take care of a baby?"

"The one where they try make the baby laugh by doing all sorts of things and it finally starts laughing when they start crying?" Jackie asked already starting to laugh at the scene in her head.

"Yeah," Eric laughed "And then they put a diaper on Curly thinking that it would fit on the baby?"

Jackie nodded her head, "Then at the end where the snuck off in the haystacks?"

Eric joined Jackie in laughing harder and abit louder. Then suddenly the laughter from both parties died down. They both realized what had happened, but it was Jackie who commented on it.

"I guess we kinda got off topic huh?" she asked.

"I guess so." Eric agreed, though he wished they had stayed on _The Three Stooges_ topic a little longer. It was nice seeing that they had something in common and Eric couldn't think of too many girls who really like the three masters of physical comedy.

"It's your turn to ask the question." Jackie informed him.

"Oh right. Ok." He nodded and then took a deep breath, "What do we do about this?"

Jackie was surprised by the question he'd asked. She knew it was bound to come up, but had thought she would be the one to address it. And never thought it would come up so early. She really wasn't prepared.

"I...I don't know. Honestly." She said to Eric and then began to voice her thoughts to him, "I mean it's like we really shouldn't do anything, and just forget about this whole thing. But it's almost like those kisses were too much of something to let them becoming nothing."

Eric nodded, knowing exactly what she meant, "Right."

"I think," Jackie took a deep breath, "I think it might be better for everyone if we just put it behind us, Eric." She told him, but something deep inside her told her that was the last thing she wanted.

"Put it behind us?" Eric asked with a frown.

"What else are we supposed to do?" she asked hoping he'd come up with a better answer than she had.

"I don't know." He shrugged, "I thought maybe we could go out like on a date or something."

Jackie's eyes widened—she wasn't expecting that, "A date?"

"Yeah, you know that thing that two people do together. Sometimes they go out to dinner, sometimes a movie, sometimes…"

"Eric, I know what a date is." Jackie interrupted him as she stood up from her seat and walked over to the sink, "And I know we don't have time for one. We're taking care of your mom remember?"

"I know, Jackie." Eric assured, "but weren't you the one who said Mom didn't want us spending all of our time hanging around here, taking care of her and doing nothing?"

Jackie mentally cursed to herself. She could have kicked herself for saying that. Of course it was the truth, but she had never thought it would backfire on her later on. Before Jackie could say anything Eric went on.

"Besides, seeing Mom like this is another reason I think we should do something instead of just ignoring what happened." He began to explain, "She's sick and she's…well you know." He said still not able to say the 'd word.' "It reminds me that life's short and every so often you've gotta take chances."

"So come on Jackie, what do you say?" Eric asked standing up and walking to where Jackie stood as he started up a familiar tune, "_Take a chance, take a chance, take a chance on me. Take a chance, take a chance, take a chance on me."_

Jackie furrowed her brow as she watched him, "Eric, who sings that song."

"Uh, ABBA." He replied, he wasn't too sure if that was exactly how the song went but he thought it was pretty easy to figure out what song it was.

"Let's keep it that way then." she replied and Eric had to break into a smile.

"Alright, I stop singing if you agree to go out on a date with me." He bargained.

For several seconds Jackie remained quiet. She wasn't too sure about going out on a date so soon, a date with Eric Forman to top it off with. Then again it was better than just ignoring those kisses all together. And maybe that date wouldn't be so bad.

"Ok, fine. _One _date." She said lifting up a finger. Eric's face lit up and he wanted to tell her how grateful he was but she wasn't through with her message, "But we won't make up any day for it. It'll just be whenever we're both free, that way we can still do what we have to for your mom."

Eric nodded, "Got it."

"And I'm only doing this because I love ABBA." She added and Eric laughed knowing she was only kidding

"This is great Jackie, it really is." Eric said to Jackie, "And I promise we'll go wherever you wanna go for our date."

"What about our friends?" Jackie asked.

Eric frowned in confusion, "Uh Jackie, when I said date I meant just the two of us not everyone else…"

"I know that." She said smacking him playfully on the arm, "I mean do we tell them about…_us_?"

Eric thought over the question. While he didn't like keeping things from his friends this might be an exception. You'd think after all this time they'd be more mature about these things but the really weren't. He'd seen the way Fez and Kelso had been teasing Hyde about Angela and if he and Jackie told the group the taunting and butting in would be ten times worse.

"You know Jackie, I think for now we should just keep it between ourselves." He said after taking the time to think.

"Right." Jackie nodded and then looked down at her hands, a movement that worried Eric. Maybe she wanted to tell them, and because he said no she was rethinking the whole date.

"Uh _or_ we could tell them." Eric chimed in, "I just thought we shouldn't rush in and get them all excited, but if you think…"

"No, Eric I agree with you." Jackie interrupted, "I think we should wait and just take this whole thing slow."

That had been her problem in her other relationships, she was always fast forwarding to the future. To weddings and house and babies. She never really enjoyed the present time and if she did, it wasn't long before she started planning for the future. She didn't want to do that this time, she didn't want to make the same mistakes.

"Ok, I got it. We wait to tell everyone else and we'll take things nice and slow in the mean time. Have like a secret relationship, a sort of friends with benefits." Eric rambled on and Jackie shot him a side look at his last words, "Well not _those_ kinds of benefits. I mean maybe like a kiss here or there, if the moment feels right. We'll take things step by step."

Jackie smiled at the man she once thought of as her enemy, "Eric, how can you go from taking chances to taking things nice and slow?"

"Because of you, Jackie." he said as he took a few steps forward making the gap between them become smaller and smaller.

"You're not the same spoiled bratty little princess you use to be before I left to Africa. You're this strong responsible caring young woman, I mean yeah you still have that little princess in there that makes a quick appearance every once in awhile but mostly you're this amazing new woman."

"I've really enjoyed spending time with you these past five days, Jackie." Eric continued on, "I think we've actually spent more time together these past few days than we ever did when we were kids. And I'd do anything to spend more time with you."

Jackie's grin grew at Eric's words, "Eric."

"Yeah?"

"The moment feels right." She said.

Before Eric could say one word, Jackie wrapped her arms about his neck and crushed her lips against his.

Eric wrapped his arms around her slim waist, pulling her closer to him. It was their third kiss, their third kiss in the kitchen, and it was just as passionate as the first two.

Their tongues danced together. And they explored each other's mouths as if it were the thing they had longed to do all day. They were so caught up in their tender kiss that they never heard the voices on the other side of the room getting closer and closer.

Nothing could have brought the two out of this moment, nothing until the swing door was pushed open.

"What the Hell?"

Instantly Eric and Jackie broke away from their kiss yet remained in their embrace. They looked at each, knowing very well who had said the words.

Still they turned their heads to the swinging door and saw two people standing in the doorway. Two shocked people. Two people each of them had dated. Those two people were Donna and Hyde and neither of them looked too happy.

"Huh." Eric said as he thought about the decision he and Jackie had come up with regarding their friends, "That didn't last long."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__There you go, Chapter 26 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Who asked the words "What the hell?" How Jackie and Eric explain this? How will Donna and Hyde along with everyone else react? Will Jackie and Eric still go out on their date? Where will they go? And when the heck are we gonna hear from Red again? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until then, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care and have a nice day!_


	28. I'm Home

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello All! I am so so very sorry for the late update. I really don't have any good excuse except that I got a case of the summer time blues. Can you believe it already over? School starts Monday! Ugh, good thing is I have Friday off. With this summer time blues I didn't feel like writing and was trying to make the best of this last week of summer. So far, its been pretty exciting. Another reason behind my tardiness was I have a new story coming up and got really into writing that one. It'll be up soo, so check it out if you get the chance please. Couple of notes. Please remember I am not a doctor or training to be one. I am however watching 'House' as I write this AN but I'm switching back and for the between that and 'I Love Lucy' don't wanna mix those two up lol. Thanks so much for all the kind words you guys! And i'm sorry for the long chapter, it has been awhile since I had a chapter this long, but I just couldn't cut it. Once you read the end I think you may agree too. So with out further rambling, here you go, Enjoy!_

* * *

"_Tell the story of how you and Red met." Hyde said knowing there was no need to ask._

"_Alright." Kitty said a smile, "Well we met at a USO dance in 1949. I was there but unlike most of the other people there I wasn't dancing g or drinking. I was reading to the blind."_

_Hyde frowned slightly, "The blind?"_

"_Yes, Steven the blind. Blind people were aloud into the dance too." She replied before going on with her story, "Anyway, I was reading to the blind when a tall very strong looking Marine came over and asked me if I wanted to dance. Well I politely told him 'No, thank you,' but he wouldn't take no for an answer and grabbed on to my arm and…"_

"_Mom?" Hyde called out, starting to worry and wonder why she suddenly stopped talking, "Are you ok?"_

_Kitty looked up from her lap and up at the camera, "You want to know the true story of how Red and I met?"_

"_Uh…yeah." He answered, counting and feeling confused. He always thought the story of Red punching out the Marine was the real story._

_She took and deep breath and nodded, "ok. Well we did meet at a USO dance and it was in 1949. But I wasn't exactly reading to the blind…"_

"_What were you doing?"_

"_I…I was drinking a few Manhattans." Kitty confessed, "A few too many Manhattans."_

_Hyde smirked from behind the camera, "What about Red?"_

"_Red was there with one of his Navy buddies…Bull, you might remember him from a few years back." She explained, "Anyways they decided to pull a little prank."_

"_What kind of prank?" Hyde asked his smirk turning into a smile, he'd seen, helped and been a victim of one of Red Forman's pranks. They were pretty damn good._

_Kitty took a few seconds to make sure she remembered the detail correctly, "They decided to moon the dance hall. They had pulled down their pants, but kept their shorts on. On them though, right where their bottoms were, they'd written the words 'Hello' and 'Ladies' on them."_

_Hyde fought back the urge to laugh, "So you saw Red's butt and then feel in love?"_

"_No, Mr. Smart mouth." Kitty said frowning abit, "I never even saw Red. That's how it happened."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Well I hadn't seen Red and I needed to use the Ladies room. So I got up and started walking over, but had had all of those Manhattans and really wasn't looking where I was going. I bumped into Red's behind and fell on the floor laughing." Kitty shared the story with a smile as she recalled the memory._

"_Red right away pulled his pants back up and turned around to face me. With one strong pull, he pulled me up to my feet and we introduced ourselves and well the rest is history."_

"_So you bumped into Red's butt and that's how you guys got this whole thing started?" Hyde asked not sure if he should be shocked or just laugh at the fact that the only relationship he'd ever really admired was started all thanks to alcohol and a butt._

_Kitty nodded, "That's right. And you know, now that I think about it, I think it really just goes to show that you can find love in some of the most strange and unexpected ways." She finished with a bright smile._

_0o0o0o_

Donna and Hyde remained standing between the kitchen and the living room. They were beyond shocked as they looked in on the scene of Jackie and Eric no longer kissing but still having their arms tightly around each other. While Hyde tried to keep his Zen in order, Donna looked just about ready to yell out the same question she'd asked seconds before.

She probably would have too, if Hyde had come in with a question of his own.

"Forman, man what're you doing?" he asked keeping his voice calm, unlike the blonde who had followed him in taking a step into the kitchen letting the door close behind them.

"Uh…"Eric struggled as he looked to Jackie, but the wide nervous multicolored eyes he met with didn't help him to much, "I was uh…giving Jackie the Heimlich remover."

Jackie unwrapped her arms from Eric's neck and placed one hand on her chest while the other covered her mouth and she pretended to cough. "Maneuver." She corrected between coughs to Eric.

Luckily Eric was able to make out Jackie's word and corrected himself.

"Maneuver!" Eric announced hoping they'd fall for it.

Hyde simply stared at his best friend and ex-girlfriend, keeping his emotions hidden behind his glasses, "Heimlich maneuver's the other way." He said Zenly.

"Right." Eric nodded and the released Jackie from his embrace.

"Eric, come on that wouldn't have fooled us anyways." Donna said sounding very upset as she crossed her arms over her chest, "We saw the two of you kissing. What the hell's going on?"

Eric walked forward to his ex-fiancé and the man he'd considered a bother for years. He saw how Jackie looked nervous when he was still holding her, so he wanted to take charge and stand up for both of them.

"Look Donna, Hyde, what you saw isn't really what you think." Eric said, "I mean…"

"Really Forman?" Hyde asked condescendingly, "Cause I saw you kissing Jackie and I _think_ you were kissing Jackie."

Eric looked at Hyde, he wasn't sure which one of these two people standing infront of him were more upset. It was pretty intimidating, after all these two had always been considered the strongest of the group. However having Jackie by and on his side, Eric felt a lot better. And not just because she kicked really hard with her pointy shoes.

"Hyde…"

Before Eric could say another word, the petite woman next to him spoke up.

Jackie had been watching Eric and saw what he was up to, wanting to be the tough one, the one who took a stand for them. It was really adorable and Jackie was very thankful for it—she couldn't remember Steven or Michael ever doing that. Still sometimes you had to do things yourself if you wanted it done right.

"Steven, Eric wasn't just kissing me." Jackie said to the man with the shaded eyes before looking at Eric locking eyes with him for a few seconds and then turning back to Hyde with a small grin on her lips, "I was kissing him."

Donna's eyes widened before her eyebrows knitted even closer. She couldn't believe what she had just heard the woman she had asked to be her amid of honor at her wedding say. She could see that Hyde was pretty upset too, he was just being his Zen self and not doing much about it. But if he wasn't going to show just how upset he was, Donna decided she was going to do it for the both of them.

However before she got the chance to say one word, a new voice and several footsteps could be heard coming up from the basement.

"And then the other muffin said, 'What the hell a talking muffin?'" Fez said the end of his punch line and Kelso laughed loudly as they both came into view of the four.

Donna and Hyde didn't notice Fez or Kelso come into the room and neither did Jackie or Eric. Kelso and Fez did however notice the foursome and the tension in the air. Soon so did Brooke, who had come into the kitchen only seconds after her husband and friend with Betsy at her side.

"Oo!" Fez said excitedly, "Something juicy happened!"

Kelso nodded, "Yeah I think I heard the word 'kissing'…or 'fishing'… I don't know it was something with an 'ing.' Maybe it was 'something!'"

"I wonder who kissed who." The foreign man said deciding to go with Kelso's first guess.

With a smug smile on his face, Kelso decided to show off what happens when you marry a smart chick, "Whom."

"Whom who?" Fez asked confused.

Kelso frowned just slightly, "Whom."

"Whom _who_?"

"Whom!" Kelso repeated loudly.

It was Fez's turn, "Who's whom?"

"Whom!"

"Hey Bugs, Daffy." Hyde called over to the arguing duo, but never looked their way, "Shut it over there."

Donna nodded in agreement, her arms still crossed and her focus still on her ex-boyfriend and now possible ex-best friend, "We need to hear more about Eric and Jackie, shacking up."

The words Donna said got several different responses. An upset frown quickly appeared on Eric's forehead. Jackie looked at the redhead in disbelief, while Hyde remained in full Zen mode. Brooke was hidden in the back with Betsy, looking around for a quick exit, and both Fez and Kelso gasped dramatically.

"That is not good." Fez stated, his eyes opened largely.

"Yeah." Kelso agreed, "Who says 'shacking up' anymore?"

Fez nodded his head and then he and his partner went back to watching the scene infront of them. Until they felt a small hand touch each of the arms. They both turned to look between them and saw Brooke looking a bit worried.

"Michael, Fez" she began, "Don't you think we should give them some more privacy?"

Together the best friends looked at one another and nodded a second after coming up with a silent conclusion.

"Nah." They replied and then went back to enjoying the show.

"Donna, we're not shacking up." Eric argued, he now knew he wasn't going to do this on his own, since Jackie had jumped in to help, but he wasn't going to let her do this on her own either. As weird as it might have been years ago, they were a team now. "All it was, was a kiss. Just one kiss, right now."

The last two words got the audience's along with Eric's opponents' ears to perk up.

Donna was the first to speak, "Right now? So you guys kissed before?"

He hadn't realized what he'd said until Donna had pointed it out and when she did, he felt like the biggest dumbass. He just stood there his mouth open but no words came out. He didn't know what to say. If they should keep those late nights kisses to themselves or just come out with it, since everything else was now out in the open.

"Yes." Jackie answered, after catching Eric's stare again. "Yes we did. Twice in fact." She finished with a smile, remembering how wonderful those kisses had been.

Hyde's eyes were staring holes into both Jackie and Eric, "When."

"Before." Jackie answered with a shrug. He didn't need to know every detail.

"Last night." Eric answer only a few seconds after Jackie had said her answer. He figured everything else was coming out in the open why not this too.

Jackie could have dropped her head down into her palm, or even hit Eric on the side of the head. She hadn't told Hyde when the kisses had happened for a reason, and not just because he didn't need to know. When he saw Hyde's glare forming behind his glasses, she knew her worries had been right and wished she had some sort of time machine to go back in time and stop Eric from saying the truth.

"Last night?" Hyde repeated, his tone already sounding very angry, "You mean last night when you were supposed to me taking care of Mom?"

Eric's face fell to the floor and he suddenly realized why Jackie had used 'before' as her answer. He wished he had paid more attention. Now he was positive that this was not going to go well.

"No…well yeah it was last night but…"Eric struggled before Hyde cut him off.

"Damn it Forman! You were frenching Jackie when you were supposed to be taking care of Mom weren't you?" he asked loudly, never giving his adopted brother a chance to answer, "I said you could stay with her and you said you were gonna take care of her, not leave her again. I trusted you man…I…I don't wanna talk about this anymore."

Jackie watched Hyde turn around and head for the living room. She knew this was not what the two brothers needed, "Steven, it wasn't like that…"

"Jackie." Hyde said spinning around again this time to face her, "I said I don't wanna talk about it. This isn't the time to talk about this. This is the time we should be spending with Mom, taking care of her. Nothing else."

He then rotated back around to the door and stomped his way out of the room.

"Burn…I think." Kelso called out, starting off loud and sure only to change to an uncertain tone.

Hyde's words were in the 'burn form.' He was trying to make both Jackie and Eric feel bad about what they had done because they should have been taking care of Kitty. The way he'd stated it, he made it sound like they should be looking after Kitty this whole time that they had left with her; because he thought that's what she wanted.

But Jackie knew, that wasn't what Kitty wanted it would drive her crazy having all seven of her kids up there the whole time trying to do things for her. She would much rather see her kids happy and spending time with each other. In fact Jackie was willing to bet that Kitty might even be abit happy if she had been the one to catch her and Eric in their embrace instead of Hyde or Donna.

"Wait up, Hyde." Donna called after her curly haired friend, interrupting Jackie from her thoughts and following Hyde out of the kitchen.

Brooke catiously uncovered her daughter's ears and looked over at Eric and Jackie, "Are you two ok?"

"Yeah, yeah." Eric nodded, "I'm great."

Jackie looked over at him with a frown on her face, "Eric, there's no need to be sarcastic with Brooke. She didn't do anything…"

"No, no. I know. I was serious. I'm great, really." Eric interrupted the rambling brunette, "I don't really care what Hyde or Donna thinks. I don't even care what these guys think." He said gesturing towards Fez and Kelso.

"Hey!" the two voice shouted back, but went unheard.

Eric continued with his thoughts, "I really don't care what anyone has to say about this. All I care about is if you and me are happy. I'm happy."

The corners of Jackie's mouth were twitching and after a few more seconds she could no longer fight back the smile, "And I'm happy."

Eric joined her in the smile and gently pulled her into a small hug, as Jackie went on.

"And you're right." She said, "I don't care what anyone else thinks."

Eric nodded and was silent for a second or two, "You still wanna go out there, don't you."

Jackie pulled away and smirked an evil smile, that use to scare Eric but now he found it quite attractive. "I'm so gonna kick their a…" she stopped herself remembering her goddaughter in the room, "butts. I'm gonna kick their butts. Come on."

The remaining four watched Jackie garb a hold of Eric's wrist before pulling him with her through the swinging door. Fez and Kelso then took a step forward ready to follow the rest of their friends.

"Alright! Chick fight!" Kelso announced happily.

Fez had on a matching grin, "I call Red's chair!"

"Hold on a minute you two.' Brooke called out grabbing them each by the shoulder, "I don't think so many people should be in there right now."

Kelso nodded at his wife's words, "Yeah, you're probably right Brooke." He took a short pause before turning to Fez, "Fez, you stay here with Betsy."

"What?" Fez screeched loudly, "Why me?"

"Cause this is a relationship kina thing." Kelso replied, "And you're not part of any kind relationship. Come on Brooke, I want good seats."

Fez watched his best friend practically drag his wife into the next room, leaving him alone with little Betsy. She was smiling one of her bright smiles, but Fez didn't seem to notice, he wanted to catch the boob fight.

"Aye, it is always poor Fez who is left out." Fez sulked, "Alone."

"It's ok Uncle Fez. You got me!" The little girl announced happily, "We can make hot chocolate!"

Fez had to smile as he looked down at his niece, "Ah a girl who knows the way to my heart."

He then took the little girls hand in his and they headed off to gather the need ingredients to make the cozy hot drink.

0o0o0o

Eric and Jackie came into the living room just in time. Hyde was about to start climbing up the stairs with Donna staying in the living room, talking to him from the bottom of the staircase.

"Hyde, Donna," Eric said as they approached the two, "We should talk about this…"

"Forget it Forman." Hyde roughly cut him off with his hand, "I already said I don't wanna talk about it now."

Donna turned her head to face Eric and Eric, her expression not all kind, "Yeah, why don't you guys go back to sucking face?"

"I don't think he was asking a question." Jackie replied as she stepped closer to Donna, staring her down.

"Alright!" Kelso exclaimed as he and Brooke entered the living room and he rushed over to Red's open chair, "We got here just in time!"

Ignoring her husband's outburst, Brooke looked over at the four young adults. She could tell by the deep glares on two of the four, that this was not going good. And she wished she could help.

She turned to Kelso, "Michael, do you think maybe we should go over and try to help."

"No. They'll be fine! Jackie and Donna are gonna start pulling hair and hitting and…" his mind suddenly drifted off as he thought about two of his closest female friends fighting each other and then adding his wife into the brawl, "Yeah, yeah, you should help. And make sure to stand next to Jackie and Donna the whole time."

Brooke almost lost her balance as he husband shoved her lightly over to where the hostile group was standing. She made a quick recovery and then started speaking, hoping she would be helping and not do any more harm.

"Um I don't now how you guys feel about this," the tall brunette began to say, "but I think that having a separate party may be helpful in this situation. Keep things under control and keep you all from saying things you might regret later."

Neither Hyde or Donna looked too thrilled with the idea. Eric looked a little indifferent himself, but Jackie just smiled and nodded in agreement as she walked over to Brooke.

"I think that's a great idea, Brooke." Jackie said with a nod.

"Yeah, well I don't." Hyde said from his place on the stairs, "look Brooke, I already said I don't wanna talk about this now…so lets just not talk about it alright?"

Eric watched his adoptive brother, he really didn't want his friendship with him to go back to how it had been when he first got here. It was one of the reasons he didn't stop Jackie from coming out here.

"Hyde where're you going?" he asked

"Upstairs. With Mom." Came Hyde's mumbled responses as he started up the remaining steps.

Eric frowned slightly, he'd just been up there, "She's asleep, man."

But Hyde didn't really seem to care about anything Eric said, "I don't care. I'll stay up there and wait till she wakes up, make sure she doesn't need anything." He said continuing with his journey up the steps.

"Hyde," a female voice he hadn't excepted to call out, called for him. He stopped his movements and turned to look down the staircase, where he saw Brooke looking up at him.

"Don't you think that if Mrs. Forman knew what was going on here, that she'd want you to talk about it?" she asked.

Hyde was silent as he replayed the librarian's words in his head. As the others around him held their breath waiting for his answer. Brooke was a smart woman—if you forgot her decision to marry Michael Kelso—and she was probably right about Kitty.

A deep heave of a fight came from Hyde before he started his way down the stairs. Brooke and Jackie exchanged smiles, happy that she'd gotten him to change his mind, even if they had to play the Kitty Card. Eric also felt relieved when Hyde walked past him and took a seat on the yellow sofa. Donna shook her head in disgust at seeing Hyde give in so easily. That was not going to be the case with her.

"You play dirty, Brooke." Hyde stated and the brunette smiled shyly.

"Yeah, she does." Kelso said nodding with a dopey grin, 'you should see her in the bedroom."

Brooke's eyes widened, "Michael!" she exclaimed as she smacked him on the arm.

"Ow!" he yelped in pain but went ignored by the group.

"Um…" Brooke cleared her throat trying to get over her embarrassment and erase the pinkness she could feel in her cheeks, "Hyde, I think you should listen to what both Jackie and Eric have to say, without inter…"

In the middle of the word interrupting, Brooke herself was interrupted by a feisty, tiny brunette making her way to the couch and the once rebelled teenager.

"Thanks, Brooke. I've got it from here." She said sweetly, only to turn back to Hyde and change her tone to the exact opposite, "Steven, you apologize to Eric right now."

"For what?" Hyde asked with a confused frown, "For kissing you when he was supposed to be upstairs taking care of Mom? Jackie I don't think you know how apologies work."

Jackie wanted to yell and pull her hair out, or Even Hyde's hair out. Instead she settled for stating her argument loudly.

"If you would have just let us explain to you in there, we would've told you that those kisses happened after Mom had fallen asleep." She explained to him, "We went down to the kitchen for some coffee, just like you and do. So if you want to accuse Eric of leaving Mom in her time of need, even though she was sound asleep. You do the exact same thing."

Hyde didn't say a word, her knew Jackie's rampage wasn't over.

"And you know, you know that Eric helped Mom out a lot last night." Jackie reminded, referring to the morphine dispenser, "Angela even told you so."

"Oh, yeah…" Hyde mumbled softly now starting to understand and feel a little less angry about the situation.

Jackie wanted to roll her eyes at that fact that Hyde suddenly remembered about Eric helping Kitty out the minute she mentioned Angela. But she didn't because, with the help of Angela, Hyde was now calmer and seemed more okay with the whole thing.

"Hey guys." A new voice welcomed into the room, "What's all the commotion about?"

Donna swiftly turned to her fiancé. It looked like she had lost Hyde, but at least she would have someone on her side.

"Eric and Jackie were kissing in the Forman's kitchen." She said angrily gesturing towards where Jackie was standing, Eric now standing right behind her.

Randy's eyes became wide out of surprise, "Oh. Cool. Cong…"his praise suddenly stopped when he caught the sight of the glower Donna was sending his way, "I mean, that's terrible?"

"Yeah, it's terrible." Donna said as if it were obvious, her faux blonde hair swaying about, "Randy, these two hate each other."

Eric shook his head, it was his turn to argue a with his ex, "No we don't, Donna."

"Yes, you do."

"No, Donna…."

"Yes you do Eric and you know it." Donna argued, "You two have hated each other since Kelso first brought Jackie into the basement. We all did!"

"what?" Kelso asked in surprise, "How come no one told me?"

Donna's words, hit Jackie like a knife, but she tried to conceal how she really felt about them. Jackie had always suspected that, that was the case—even during that time—but to actually hear the words, it really hurt. And to hear them being said by her own best friend made it even worse.

"Alright Donna, maybe we did. But that was before and we didn't _hate_ each other, we just couldn't stand each other.." Eric started to say, trying not to get upset at the last words Donna had said—at least not yet, "Now, now we don't hate each other. Over these last few days we've really gotten closer…"

"And we don't hate each other so much any more." Jackie finished for him with a smile, looking at Eric and not Donna. Eric smiled back.

"Yeah, maybe if you weren't off 'sight seeing' in Point Place and thinking about your precious wedding, you'd have noticed." Jackie said bitterly, wanting to get back at the lumberjack for her statement from before.

Donna continued to frown shook her head, "I don't believe it. I think you guys both still hate each other. Except for that kiss in there, I haven't seen anything different between you two."

"I have."

Six heads turned to the couch and saw the person who had spoken. Hyde stood up from the sofa and looked at Donna and then over to Eric and Jackie.

"I noticed there was something going on between these two. They had been spending way too much time together." He explained, staying Zen not letting anyone know how he was really feeling at the minute. Was he sticking up for them, or still on Donna's side?

Hyde went on, "But I didn't really think anything of it and ignored it. If I would have known this was gonna happen, I would've put a stop to it."

Eric furrowed his brow at the things his brother had said. He really thought he was defending him and Jackie, talk about a curve ball. Jackie rapidly blinked her eyes, making sure she had heard right.

"Excuse me?" she asked with a frown taking a step closer to Hyde, her angry expression back on her face, "You would have put a stop to it? Who are you to put a stop to anything in my life, Steven? Especially after how much you hurt me with that skanky stripper."

Jackie shook her head, not letting Hyde get a word in, "You can't stop me from doing anything, Steven. Especially not this."

The next thing anyone knew, Jackie and grabbed a hold of the back of Eric's head and pulled her closer to her. Their lips crushed against each other roughly, before the kiss became more tender and loving.

"Ugh!" Donna shouted, throwing her hands up, "You guys need to stop doing that!"

The couple pulled out of their kiss, and looked at the irritated blonde. However instead of one of them saying anything to her, it was the young man who was standing beside her who spoke.

"Donna, why do you care so much about Eric and Jackie kissing?" randy asked in an hesitant tone of voice, "I mean I know you and Eric dated before…but the way you're acting it's like you've still got some feelings or him."

The room became silent. No one was quite sure what to say. It was a question that had been running through everyone's head—well except for Kelso's, he had just been wanting the chick fight. They didn't know what Donna was going to say but they were all curious to find out.

"Okay!" a foreign voice called from the kitchen before popping into the living room with Betsy at his side and a try of several mugs in his hands. "Who wants hot chocolate?"

Seeing that no one had answered him he frowned, but then took a few seconds to pay attention to the scene. And he quickly sensed something was wrong and probably shouldn't be seen by such innocent eyes. Both Betsy's and his.

"Uh-o. Um more hot chocolate for us then." he quickly told Betsy as he hurriedly pushed the little girl back into the kitchen.

"Randy, how can you say that?" Donna asked with more surprise than hurt in her tone of voice, "You know that's not true. I'm with you now. I love you and I'm marrying you."

The feather haired man remained serious as he nodded in agreement, "I know. But ever since we started talk about making this trip here, you've been acing different. You were excited and nervous to see Eric and now your jealous of him kissing Jackie."

"I am not jealous…" the blonde began to protest.

"Well whatever you are, it's made me think ok?" Randy said, wanting to get his point across, "And you really can't blame me for thinking this stuff."

Donna didn't know what to say. She felt terrible for making Randy feel this way, but the truth was she really couldn't explain why she was feeling this way about Eric either.

Jackie looked at Eric to see what his reaction would be. She had been fearing that he still wasn't over Donna, but never once through Randy and Donna's scene did he even smirk. He almost looked concerned—which was just like him caring for those around him.

Feeling someone's eyes on him, Eric turned his head to the right and saw it was Jackie. He gave her a slight smile, but then it quickly faded and he just stared into her eyes, silently wondering if she was having second thought about this whole thing now that they'd seen how big of a miss their kisses had made.

"I'm going with Mom." Hyde announced getting ready to head to the staircase.

Brooke quickly rushed to stop him, "No wait…"

"Yeah, I'm with Brooke. I've got something to say and I want an answer form all of you guys." Kelso said standing up and looking serious for once in his life, "Did you guys hate Brooke when I first brought her into the basement too?" he asked in an angry protective tone.

Their were several confused frowns given out as a response as the woman in the question buried her head in her hands. No one was able to say anything because their attention on the question was quickly stolen away by the sound of the front door opening.

The seven heads turned to the entrance and were more than surprised to see who had walked in. It was an older man wearing a winter coat and matching fedora, cover lightly with snow, holding onto two suitcases and frowning at the scene that welcomed him home.

"Red…"Hyde staggered.

Meanwhile Kelso knew just what to do.

"Quick hide!" he shouted before dropping himself down onto the floor

Red Forman lifted his open palms up in the air, ignoring Kelso's acting and stopping his adoptive son from saying more.

"I don't wanna hear it." He ordered and without another word headed up the stair case.

0o0o0o

Quietly and carefully, Red Forman pushed open the door to the bedroom he shared with his wife for over twenty years. He was abit afraid that he would walk in on Kitty in a distressing moment. Her sick and throwing up or her moaning at the feeling of any pain. Luckily the scene that welcomed him was much more calming and almost normal.

He smiled a small and soft smile as he walked into the room.

Kitty was fast asleep on his side of the bed, cuddled up in almost the fetal position. Though she looked thinner and a lot paler and tired than she did when he'd left to the convention, seeing her asleep like this made her look so peaceful and less sick.

Red knew he should have left the room and let her sleep and get the rest she needed, but he didn't want to leave her; he couldn't leave her. It wasn't just because he didn't want to deal with the dumbasses down stairs, it was because he had missed her. He'd been away from her for too long.

He slowly walked over to the bed and removed his hat, placing it on the foot of the bed. He watched his sleeping wife for a few seconds before deciding to climb into bed with her—never bothering to remove his coat.

Kitty slowly woke from her dream at the feeling of cold, sturdy arms going around her. One had snaked its way between herself and the mattress, the other draped across her waist. They both wrapped around her and gently pulled her back just a bit to feel a warm strong body behind her.

She instantly knew who it was, but wanted to make sure it wasn't another cruel dream. She'd already woken up three times before, thinking her husband was in bed with her.

"Red?" she asked in a small weak voice that nearly broke Red's heart.

"Shh. Yeah, Kitty. It's me. It's ok." He kissed the top of her head, "I'm here now. I'm home."

Kitty only smiled in response. She finally had what she wanted, just to be held in her husbands arms. She enjoyed the feeling a little longer before drifting back to sleep.

* * *

_**Author's Note:**__ There you are my friends Chapter 27 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Wow 27 chapters later and Red's finally home. That took awhile huh? lol But I am happy to report that my plan was to get Red home before school started and I just made the cut! Hehe_

_Does Donna still have feelings for Eric? Does Hyde still have feeling for Jackie or is he really just upset about Eric not being with Kitty? What will Red's reactions be when he talks to the gang? When he sees Eric? Will him being home help bring his house back in order? And will anyone drink Betsy and Fez's hot chocolate? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until then, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	29. I Have An Idea

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello all! Holy Moly! Not sure what that's more for, my tardiness or the word count on this chapter! I'll first start off with my tardiness. I am so sorry everyone, I really am but I have a really good excuse! I started school last week, not just school, but college. So the first week was alittle hectic as has this week been too but not so much which is good. I am so sorry for my lateness but I hope this LONG chapter makes up for it. Seriously almost 7,000 words? Wow! I did NOT mean for it too come out so long. Hope you guys don't fall asleep and that after the long chapter you won't forget to review! Quick notes. One, please remember I am not a doctor…though I did just buy season three of House M.D. on DVD, which I did not know had the Kurtwood Smith episode so that was pretty awesome. Two. Thank you so much for all of your reviews I am truly thankful for them all and I am so glad you all are enjoying and staying tuned in to the story. Three. I am soo sorry for beign a week and some days late! So so sorry! Four Sorry for the long chapter! Five. Slight Tissue warning, just incase I needed it but I'm a little sleep deprived right now…Thanks for reading again. Hope you like! And Enjoy!_

* * *

"_And that's how that happened." Kitty finished her latest answer._

_Hyde nodded, but didn't say anything quite yet. She had answered his question a lot faster than he thought she would and now he was stuck trying to come up with another answer._

"_Um…uh….um…" he struggled as he racked the inside of his brain._

"_Um…uh…um…" a feminine voice repeated._

_Hyde swung the camera over to the left side of the room to the swinging kitchen door. There he caught the shot Jackie making her way into the living room._

"_Gee Steven what's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" She teased as she crossed her arms over her chest, "Did you forget all of the questions we came up with last night?"_

"_Well you were there and I tend to block things with you of my head, so yeah I forgot 'em." Hyde replied before moving the camera away from Jackie and back to Kitty._

_Even though the camera wasn't on her, Jackie glared at her ex boyfriend and began to march her way over to him._

"_You know what Steven…"_

_Kitty could sense another one of her adopted children's arguments were about to start up. They'd been so good at no fighting lately—at least in front of her—she thought the whole stripper thing was way behind the,._

"_Now kids don't start your fighting." She ordered rather than suggested, turning her head back and forth from Hyde to Jackie, "I do not want fighting in my video."_

"_Yes, Mom." both young adults mumbled._

_Their surrogate mother smiled and turned to Jackie, who managed to squeeze half of herself into the shot again, "Jackie, honey, where's Red?"_

"_He's in the garage. He said he'd be right in." she replied._

_Hyde smirked from behind the camera, "You kill your car?"_

"_No!" Jackie almost shouted, and then got her whole self into the picture frame of the camera by sitting on the couch right beside Kitty, "My car died, Mom!"_

_She'd cried the words out loud before dropping her head onto Kitty's shoulder, hoping for some comfort. Of course that's what she got as Kitty softly patted the small girl's back, gently with her motherly hand._

"_Oh sweetie…"Kitty said soothingly._

_Suddenly Jackie's head popped off her adopted mother's shoulder as she looked straight at the camera and the man behind it._

"_I didn't kill it, it died!" she argued already knowing the remark he was gonna make._

_Hyde shrugged his shoulders, "Tomato, tomato." He said pronouncing the words the exact same way._

_Jackie only rolled her eyes while she shook her head deciding to ignore the comment and talk to Kitty, "Red's been waiting almost ten years to tell me that I shouldn't have gotten my mustang."_

"_Oh honey," Kitty said bringing Jackie's head back to rest on her shoulder, "I'm sure he won't say anything like that…"_

"_He already did." She informed._

"_Oh." Was all Kitty could say for several seconds, "Well I'm sure you could get him to go with you to shop for another car."_

_Jackie nodded her head abit, "I already did…actually he volunteered. I think he just wants to spend the day looking at cars though."_

"_Ok Jackie," Hyde interrupted before Jackie could say more, "now that you've had your little sob-fest, you wanna get out of the shot?"_

"_No." Jackie answered with a small pout while never moving her head away from Kitty's shoulder._

"_Well too bad, because you have to. This is Mom's video and there's only supposed to be have Mom in it."_

_Jackie lifted her head back up. "Well it has your stupid voice." _

"_Yeah, well we don't need…"Hyde began to say only to be cut off._

"_Steven!" Kitty scolded towards the camera for a few seconds, "Why don't you let Jackie come out on the video for a few minutes. After all I know you got a few shots of Red in there."_

"_Red's already got parts in the video?" Jackie questioned not bothering to wait for a response from wither parties, "I am so gonna be in this video. And the parts with me are so gonna be some of the best parts. And not just because it has me in it but because I worked on a TV talk show!"_

_Hyde's brow furrowed as he filmed the two women on the couch getting a bit too excited as they jabbered on about TV talk shows and when Jackie use to work with that Christine St. George lady. He soon realized he was loosing control of the movie._

"_Hey, I'm in charge of this film remember?" he reminded, "And you didn't work on a TV talk show, you were an assistant to a TV talk show host._

"_Yeah." Jackie agreed right away, "Which means I was this close to actually being the host!" she said lifting up her thumb and index finger pinched together, leaving very little room between them. _

_The Zen master shook his head and sighed slightly, "Whatever."_

_Not that it mattered what he said anyways; both Kitty and Jackie were back to their conversation. Hyde hoped this wasn't how it would be the whole time Jackie was here, he couldn't understand a word either one of them was saying._

"_Ok this part of the film will be called 'A Half Hour with Jackie and Kitty.'" Jackie explained to the Camera._

_Hyde's eyes bulged slightly before he frowned again, "A half hour?"_

"_Now Mom," Jackie said ignoring Hyde's question, "I'm gonna ask the questions and you use answer them"_

_Kitty nodded anxiously, "Oh this is so exciting, it'll be like I'm being interviewed by that Sally Jessy Raphael…Oo or by Barbara Walters!" she said giggling with excitement._

"_I know!" Jackie agreed with a large grin, that faded after a few seconds, "Well except that I'm prettier and much younger than both of them."_

_Kitty continued to giggle while Hyde didn't say anything, he knew he'd only be wasting his breath._

_The petite brunette clapped her hands once, "Ok so Mom you're the guest. I'm the host. And Steve you're the stinky guy behind the camera know one really cares about."_

_She gave a small smirk as she titled her head slightly towards Hyde; but he remained silent._

"_Ok let's start with the first question." She announced happily._

_She took a few seconds o think of a good question. And then those seconds turned into a few minutes and she was no longer looking for a good question but just any question._

"_Uh…um…uh…"she struggled nervously._

_Hyde smirked evil, not being able to resist, "Uh…um…uh…Gee Jackie, what's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" he asked mockingly._

_Not two seconds later, one of the small yellow pillows from the sofa was flung towards him and hitting the lens of the camera. _

_0o0o0o_

It was a few hours after the showdown in the living room, Red remained upstairs with his wife and hadn't come down to speak with anyone, just as the gang themselves had yet to go up and face him. But while Red probably hadn't come downstairs because he was visiting with Kitty, the main reason for the group not going to talk to Red was because they were either cowards or they were still wrapped up in the events that had taken place just before Red had gotten home.

Most of them were both.

A few minutes after Red had ascended up the staircase, Randy had left the house mumbling something about needing to clear his head. Hyde—his thoughts still on the words that had been said by him and to him—went down to his room in the basement, knowing it was best to give Red some alone time with Kitty. Donna huffed her way behind Hyde, not sure just what she should be more upset about.

Kelso and Brooke also made an exit to the basement. However the only reason they'd left to that room was to join their daughter and Fez in a marathon of Bug Bunny cartoons. And Eric and Jackie, they had gone back to the room where the whole thing had started. The kitchen.

The two were both seated at the round kitchen table, Jackie on the right and Eric on the left, drinking some of the cocoa Fez and Betsy had made. Kitty had always said it was bad luck to let hot cocoa go to waste. And they really didn't need any more of that.

"So I've finally come to a decision." Eric said breaking the comfortable silence after taking a long dramatic sip from his mug, "I'm going to join Kelso and Fez in hiding from Red in the washer and dryer."

Jackie had to laugh and shake her head as she heard the words, "Eric, you do realize how stupid that sounds right?"

"Yeah." Eric nodded and then paused for a few seconds, "There's no way two of us could fit in the washer or dryer…I'll get Fez to move into the deep freeze."

"Eric come on, you really need to stop worrying. You already saw your dad and he already saw you. The worst is over." Jackie reminded before taking a sip of her drink.

He titled his head slightly to the right and stared at Jackie with a look of fascination, "It's like you're new around here."

Jackie responded by smacking Eric's nicely toned arm, while fighting back a smile.

"Seriously Jackie, the worst isn't over. The worst hasn't even begun." Eric argued, "Yeah I saw Red and he saw me, but I haven't talked to him, he hasn't talked to me yet…he hasn't called me a dumbass or threaten to put his foot up my ass yet! And until the word 'ass' leaves his mouth it's like he hasn't officially seen me."

The tiny brunette shook her head, "Well saying the word or not, he's gonna see you soon enough."

"Yeah, I know. Our shift's gonna start soon." He said looking down at his watch for only a second before going on, "You know I'm glad Hyde did set us up to take the shift together."

Jackie nodded, "Yeah. Bet he's wishing he didn't now though." She mumbled to herself, but when she saw the puzzled frown indented on Eric face, she quickly shook her head breaking her free from those thoughts and back to what she had planned on talking about.

"Um Eric. Speaking of this whole shift thing with your mom…I think we should hold off and wait until tomorrow." She began to explain, in a gentle voice hoping he wouldn't be too upset or disappointed, "I just think that with your dad just getting here and all…"

"We should let him stay up there with Mom for the rest of the night." Eric finished for her.

Jackie's eyes brightened with surprise and excitement, "Yes!"

"Yes!" Eric almost shouted, in agreement, "I mean I'm not just saying that because you said 'yes' or because that would mean me not having to see Red just yet…though yeah, that last one is one of the main reasons. But really I think Dad should stay with Mom and just let the two of them have some alone time. I could really tell Mom had been missing him…and I guess we really don't know how much time they'll be able to have together like that…"

"That's exactly what I was gonna say!" Jackie said with a large smile. Though the topic really wasn't one to be smiling about, it excited her that Eric knew what she was going to say before she had even said it, "This is so exciting!"

Watching Jackie's enthusiasm as she almost bounced in her seat, Eric had to smile himself a smile. Nothing like this had ever happened to him either. Especially not with Donna. It was very rare that the two of them were on the same page let along the same chapter.

"Yeah." Eric nodded, "Yeah, I guess it is."

Jackie nodded as well, keeping her large smile in place. However, it was only a few seconds later that her happy carefree grin, faded away just abit.

"You know Eric," she began, "if I didn't have this feeling that we were about to get some company, I'd kiss you." She finished in a lower voice.

Eric gave a shy smirk, "Well I don't know why company is stopping you now. After all you did kiss me in the living room infront of every one." He reminded playfully before adding, "Which by the way was _hot_."

Hyde entered the kitchen from the basement to the scene of Jackie and Eric laughing together. It was a private moment and close one as well, Hyde noticed as he saw Jackie place her hand Eric's forearm. Seeing the two of them so happy, with each other, Hyde didn't know how to feel.

So he chose not feel anything and just stay Zen.

"Hey Forman, Jackie." he greeted as he walked closer to the couple.

Eric turned in his seat to see his adoptive brother, "Hey Hyde."

He'd decided to follow Hyde's way of acting as if nothing had happened; maybe it would keep things from getting worse. Jackie, however didn't take the same route as the guys.

Her smile had fallen the second she heard Hyde's voice and she right away turned her attention to her nails.

"Steven." She said coldly.

Hyde watched Jackie, slightly hoping she'd say more in the greeting, but when he saw her turn her attention to her other hand he knew it was a lost cause. He sighed and decided to just do what he'd come up here for in the first place.

"Listen it's almost seven, your shift's supposed to start soon and…"

"We're not going." The brunette who looked like she wasn't pay attention, interrupted.

Hyde frowned as he turned from Eric to Jackie, "What?"

"Uh, yeah Hyde. We kinda decided not to go." Eric started to explain, trying his best not to get nervous or at least keep it from showing in his voice, "We thought we should just start the shift thing with Mom tomorrow. This way Red can stay with her tonight, he's been away long enough."

Hyde blinked his eyes a few times behind his shades, surprised by what he was hearing and wondering if it had been Eric's idea. He sounded pretty confident that it made Hyde believe so.

"Yeah. No, that's a pretty good idea Forman. I was actually coming up here to say something kinda like that…" he admitted.

Jackie rolled here eyes not sure if she should believe him or not. Even if she didn't believe him, that wouldn't cause her to feel as upset as she was feeling now.

"Really Steven? You?" Jackie condescendingly questioned as she turned her chair to face her ex, "You were going to come up here and tell us to do something? Something that would affect mine and Eric's lives? Something that would _control _our lives? I don't believe it!"

"Jackie, I never said I wanted to control your lives." Hyde replied, sensing what she was getting at.

Jackie titled her head to the side, not yet finished, "Oh that's right you wanted to put a stop to things happening in our lives. That is just _so much_ better."

While argument took place in front of him, Eric swung his head back and forth from one glaring person to the next. He wanted to say something, but was never given the chance with Hyde or Jackie quickly jumping as soon as the other was done or not done speaking. Poor Eric really felt out of place.

"If you would have just let me explain Jackie…" Hyde began only to be cut off.

"Explain what Steven?" the fuming brunette asked as she stood form her seat and stalked closer to him, getting angrier and angrier, "Explain how you were going to out a stop to me and Eric getting closer? Oh please do tell Steven."

Hyde was getting frustrated with the whole thing and Jackie constantly interrupting didn't help, "Jackie, that's not what I meant…"

That was the last thing Eric was able to make out before it just became a bunch of noise as Jackie and Hyde argued with each other. They didn't bother hearing what the other had to say and made it their only goal to get their point across.

Eric watched from his kitchen chair for a few more seconds before deciding to stand up and try to put a stop or even a slight pause to the argument. But he never got a word in, he didn't even get to stand up from his seat.

However even without Eric's help, the room did become silent. Both Hyde and Jackie stopped speaking—rather shouting—the second a new voice was heard in the room.

"Both of you, shut it. You can kill each other later." Red declared with his deep stern scowl in place, "Right now you've got three minutes to explain to me why my house is infected with the same dumbass teenagers that I had just gotten rid of not seven years ago."

Eric didn't know why he said it, but he just couldn't stop himself. It was like being in the kitchen with his upset father was so normal and his response was almost expected. Whatever the reason, Eric still opened his mouth and spoke before he could try to stop himself.

"Well technically we're not teenagers anymore, since our ages no longer contain the word 'teen' in it…"

Red didn't need to say anything, he just turned towards his son with an angry glare and Eric shrunk down into his seat. Instead of snickering as he would have done in a times like this, Hyde decided to fulfill his surrogate father's demand.

"Look Red, we started calling everyone right after we had taken Mom to the hospital and they told us what was going on. We even tried calling you but couldn't get a hold of you." He started to explain, before Jackie jumped in.

"We thought it would be nice for them to come see Mom again and it would make her happy to have everyone around her." Jackie added, hopping her role as Red's favorite would come in handy, "It has made her happy." She added just incase.

Hyde looked at Jackie, frowning from under his sunglasses. He looked back at Red and saw the older man's scowl in the same spot. He still didn't look too happy, but that was ok, Hyde knew just what to do.

"It was all Jackie's idea." He announced pointing his index finger at the petite woman standing beside him.

The pair of mismatched eyes widened and stared intensely at the man next to her. If Jackie wanted to kill Hyde before, she now wanted to kill him, bring him back to life only to kill him again. He was blaming her so she would get in more trouble, when the fact of the matter was it had the two of them together, who had decided to make the phone calls.

"I don't care whose idea it was. I just want…" Red stopped mid way through his request to get rid of the group in the basement, and replayed Jackie's words. He closed his eyes and sighed before looking at his adopted children, "It's really made her happy?"

In a frightened like manner, Hyde and Jackie both nodded their heads up and down.

"Fine. They can stay." Red gave in but kept his gruff tone and appearance, "At least you didn't call up any of Kitty's screwball relatives…did you?"

Remaining in the state as before Jackie and Hyde shook their heads 'no.'

"Good." He stated before walking over to the cabinet where they kept both his and Kitty's medications.

The kitchen became soundless as the three young adults watched the man who they each considered their father, open the cabinet door and go through the contents. They all watched with a nervous, uncertain feeling stirring in their stomachs.

"If you're going to say something, say it." Red declared, never moving away from the cabinet, but having felt the pairs of eyes burning the back of his head.

Taking a few seconds to recover—the trio had nearly jumped a few steps back after hearing Red speak—one of them at last managed to find their voice.

"Uh. Red, man. I'm still pretty confused." Hyde started to say walking closer to Red, "What're you doing here? I mean…I thought you said you were gonna call us so we could pick you up…"

Red turned away from the various plastic orange bottles, "I did call. Twice."

Seeing the confused expressions in the room, Red decided to go on and elaborate some more.

He heaved a deep sigh before beginning, "First I called earlier in the day, some time around noon I guess. I was calling to let you know I'd gotten another flight over here. But no one answered."

Suddenly a wave of guilt washed over Jackie as she heard Red's words. A phone call around noon, that hadn't been answered? Her mind had install gone to the phone ringing when she and Eric were arguing in the kitchen and she had faked the phone call with a co-worker. She had of course been curious about who had called but she never would have guessed it had been Red.

Feeling the blame on her part, Jackie looked down at her feet as Red continued to speak.

"Then I called when I got in and that time I got an answer. But all I got in was 'Hello' and then the person on the other end hung up." He went on, "I now realize that was probably either Ponch or Jughead."

Hyde shook his head, ready to find out who'd answered the call, why they hadn't told him about Red calling, and then kick their ass.

"So since I couldn't get a hold of either of you I had to get a cab." Red continued, "And the tab for that is being split by the two of you and paid back to me."

Jackie and Hyde only nodded, knowing it wasn't a suggestion. However they also knew Red didn't mean it and probably wouldn't take action to the order.

"Does Kitty know why I'm here?" he asked.

"Uh no." Hyde replied, "She uh…never asked so we never told."

Red nodded before turning back to the medicines, "Good."

Jackie watched the older man look through the different bottles of pills, keeping in his hands a few of them. She noticed both Eric and Hyde were doing the same and seemed they both also shared the feelings of worry and curiosity as they watched Red. Of course Jackie knew that both boys were chickens and she would have to be the one with the guts to come out and ask the question

"Um Red?" she called out getting his attention, "Is Mom feeling sick? I mean because you're getting her medicine…that's why I'm asking."

"No…no. Kitty's still asleep. But uh she was moaning awhile ago so I figured I better come down here and get her pills. Just in case." Red explained, somewhat quickly. He hated talking about anything dealing with his wife's sickness but he also would do anything he could to help her feel even a tad bit better.

He cleared his throat and recaptured his gruff form and pointed at the pair standing infront of him, "Now you can keep the dumbasses, but remember they're your responsibility."

"Yes, sir." They answered simultaneously.

Red nodded his head and then grabbed the rest of the pills he'd need for Kitty before heading to the swinging door. He was just about of the kitchen when he turned back around and set his eyes on one of the three.

"I knew you'd finally get your head out of your ass and get over here." He said to a startled looking Eric, "I'm glad you're home, son."

With that said Red turned back around and exited the kitchen, leaving poor Eric still shell-shocked.

He couldn't believe what his father had just said to him…well the second part of what he'd said. The first part yeah, but the second part? He was glad he was home? And he didn't yell once. That was a huge improvement. It looked like Jackie was right all along.

"Uh…me too." Eric said, despite the fact that Red was probably already at the staircase at this point.

Eric wasn't the only one surprised by the scene that had just taken place. The only female in the room had also found herself taken aback by the actions. Or better yet the actions that didn't happen.

"Steven, why didn't you say anything?" she asked looking at Hyde. It wasn't that she wanted to Hyde to tell Red the truth about how Eric had been at the beginning, but she had really been afraid—especially since the big showdown in the living room—that Hyde would spill the beans to Red.

Hyde remained Zen, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you didn't tell Red what had really happened." Jackie began, "You didn't tell him how you called Eric and he said he wouldn't come. Or how I was the one who got him to get over here. You didn't even tell Red about Eric running off…you didn't stop R from saying those things to Eric."

"Yeah, well." Hyde shrugged his shoulder, "Guess that just shows that you don't really know what I want to stop."

Having said that, Hyde swung himself back in the direction of the basement and left the room. Jackie continued to stand in her slightly surprised stated while Eric remained sitting in his seat but had actually stopped feeling so shocked by his father's words and instead felt welcomed by them.

"Wow. Hyde's really gotten a lot Zen-er." He said out loud, "I didn't think that was possible."

All Jackie could do was nod in agreement.

0o0o0o

Red came back to his and Kitty's room just in time.

Kitty was now fully awake and sitting up in bed, throwing up into the trashcan Red had moved closer to the bedside before going downstairs. Calmly Red walked to his wife and took a seat behind her, gently rubbing her back and never letting on to how worried he was really feeling on the inside.

It was several minutes before Kitty finally pushed away the bin, letting Red take the can and put it off to the side. He'd get to it later, there were other important things to take care. Without a word he handed her the pills and a glass of water, she took the medication never saying a thing.

It wasn't until all of the tablets had been swallowed and the glass had been placed back on the night stand that the silence was broken.

"Some welcome home, huh?" Kitty asked giving her husband a weak smile.

Red returned the small smile as he put his arm around her shoulders, "Yeah well, you have always been my favorite reason for coming home."

Letting out a soft giggle, Kitty leaned back against her husband and decided to relax in the embrace before the feeling of nausea or pain came over her once again. Red inclined his back against the headboard, so he could get comfortable.

"So how was The Big Apple?"

"Full of Big Dumbasses." Red replied, "There were dumbasses polluting the place. There were dumbass taxi drivers, dumbass people playing guitars on the streets, and there were so many dumbass foreigners our foreign kid would have fit right in."

Kitty smiled not so much at his complaint but rather him saying, 'our foreign kid.' She knew he loved each of those kids as much as she did. Of course wasn't about to bring what he'd said to his attention; he'd only deny it.

"I'm telling you Kitty, there's no way you could ever get me to go back there." He said, not wanting to tell her the truth about what he'd thought of the big city and how he'd wanted to take her—there was no reason to upset her.

"What are you doing home so soon?" she asked him, "I thought you still had another two days there."

Red was quiet for a few seconds, trying to remember all the details to his story so he wouldn't have to stop again. "Uh, I just said Kitty. The place was crawling with dumbasses. And don't get me started on the damn convention. That was place was…"

"Steven called you, didn't he?"

Surprised by his wife's words, Red looked down and saw his wife looking back up at him waiting for an answer. An answer she already knew.

"How did you know?" he asked with a frown.

"Oh Red," Kitty began with a slight grin, "I may be a sick woman but I still know everything that goes on in my house."

Red had to agree with that and he gave a chuckle to show it. He couldn't believe he and the dumbasses downstairs thought they could have gotten this past Kitty. She had eyes and ears through out the place. And as much as Red would say he was in charge of the house and those in it, it was Kitty who took control and got her way in the end—especially against Red.

He may have been The King but she was The Queen.

Kitty went on with what she had to say, bringing Red back to reality, "And Steven did look pretty nervous when I told him about Marty calling, so I figured it couldn't have been him who called Marty…"

"Wait a minute." Red interrupted with a confused scowl on his face, "Marty?"

"Yes, your brother. Remember?"

"I know who Marty is, Kitty." He replied still frowning, "Why was he calling here?"

"He was just calling to talk to me. He asked me how I was doing and if there was anything he could do." Kitty started to explain, still not clearing things up for Red, "He knew about everything that was going on…I guess he must have called right after you talked to him."

Red's frown deepened, "I didn't talk to Marty."

"You didn't?" Kitty questioned, now with her own confused expression.

"Why would I call my brother and tell him about what was going here?"

His wife shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know…moral support?"

"Kitty, if I called Marty for moral support, I'd end up being the one to give moral support to _Martina_." Red reminded in his gruff tone of voice.

Kitty had to giggle when she heard Red's chuckle as he laughed at his own joke. They both knew how true the statement really was. A few seconds later, the couple's laughter had died down. Kitty closed her eyes and relaxed whereas a question in Red's mind continued to bother him.

"Kitty?"

"Hmm?"

Red looked down at his peaceful looking wife as she rested her head on his shoulder. He knew she was tired and all this talking they had done already was more than what he thought they'd be able to do; still he had to ask her something. Something he'd been wondering about since Hyde had first called him in the hotel.

"Why didn't you tell me you were sick?" he questioned.

Kitty carefully opened her eyes but didn't look up at Red just yet. She knew the question was bound to come up eventually; she was actually surprised he hadn't asked her sooner.

She took a deep breath and let her eyes meet with his, "I didn't want you to rush home so soon. I wanted you to stay with your war buddies a little longer and have a good time before you had to come home and deal with all of this. And…"

"No, Kitty." Red interrupted, trying not to sound upset, "I mean _before_. Before New York. Why didn't you tell me or Steven or Jackie that you were starting to feel sick again?"

"I…Because…" Kitty struggled, already starting to feel a slight tightness in her throat. "Because I couldn't."

Red grabbed her right hand with his own and gave it a gentle squeeze, hoping to help her continue.

"Red, I couldn't tell you or the kids how I was feeling because I didn't wanna worry you all." Kitty started to explain, "I had been feeling better, and we all thought the cancer was almost completely gone."

"And then I started feeling sick again. At first I thought maybe it was just a little fluke and would pass in a few days. I didn't say anything because I didn't want you to worry and then have it turn out to be nothing." She went on, "A few days passed and nothing changed but I didn't say anything because I didn't want to put everyone through this whole cancer thing all over again. Especially when we thought it was all over…I had no idea that it would get this bad so soon, Red."

By this time Red was no longer looking at his wife and instead fixated his gaze on the wall infront of their bed.

"Oh Red, honey." Kitty said looking at him, her vision slightly blurred by the tears forming in her eyes, and giving the hand that continued to hold hers a weak squeeze, "Please don't be mad."

Red heaved a sigh, "Kitty, I'm feeling a lot of things right now…and mad is one of them." He then slowly turned his head to look at her, "But it's not at you."

Kitty smiled and closed her eyes, letting a tear or two roll down her cheek, as she felt her husband's lips press against her forehead.

"I love you, Kitty." He whispered to her.

"I love you too, Red Forman."

0o0o0o

Meanwhile back downstairs in the kitchen, Jackie and Eric still occupied the room. They had however traded in their mugs for some magazines, creating a silence as the both read different articles…well as Jackie read. Eric didn't seem very interested in anything but his watch, that he kept check almost every five minutes.

"You know it's getting kinda late." He announced breaking the quietness, "Maybe we should do something…"

Jackie looked up from her magazine and nodded, "Yeah I think you're right." she paused for a second or two, "I guess we could order in some pizza and whoever's turn it was to get dinner can pay when it gets here."

With a frown on his forehead, Eric watched Jackie stand up from her seat and walk over to the phone. That wasn't what he was talking about at all…although no that she mentioned it, he was a little hungry…but that's not what he was talking about!

"No, Jackie!" he practically shouted, stopping her from lifting up the receiver, "I meant about…this mess we kinda made here."

It was the brunette's turn to furrow her brow, "We?"

"Well yeah." Eric nodded, "I wasn't kissing myself in here awhile ago. And that kiss was how the whole thing started. Now we've got Hyde even more Zen, Donna's pissed and…"

"Eric, Eric." Jackie called out as she walked over to him, sensing he was about to go into his twitchy-panicky mode.

She gently placed her hands on his shoulders, "Eric, look at me." She instructed and he did so, "We did not cause anything ok? They were the ones who reacted the way they did. They didn't have to react that way. All we did was have a couple of hot kisses."

"You thought our kisses were hot?" he asked with a smirk playing on his lips.

"_Very."_ Jackie said almost seductively before walking away, "I'm gonna order the pizza now."

Eric enjoyed the view as she walked back over to the telephone; it took almost all of his strength to break out of his daze and nodded his head.

"Yeah, ok." He answered before going back to what he had been thinking about before, "I think I'm still gonna try to talk to Randy though." He shared after a few seconds.

At the words, Jackie whipped herself around and made her way back to where Eric was sitting.

"You? Why?" she questioned, still thinking she hadn't heard right, "Eric, out of all of us here you're the one who knows Randy the least. Betsy knows the guy better than you do."

"Ok first of all, thanks for the support." Eric replied sarcastically, Jackie opened her mouth to speak but Eric went on, "Second, I just think I should talk to him cause it's kind of my fault that he left like that."

Jackie let out a small sigh as she closed her eyes. She thought it was pretty sweet of Eric to want to make things better between all of them again, but why did he keep blaming himself?

"Eric, listen. You are not the reason Randy left the way he did." She tried to assure him, "Randy left like that because he finally saw hoe feminist-y and lumberjack-y Donna really is."

"I guess, you're right." He agreed, still not sounding very convinced, "But I think I'm still gonna talk to Donna…if that's ok with you that is."

Jackie tried her best not to smile, "Eric, it doesn't matter if it's ok with me or not. I'm not your girlfriend, remember?"

"Right, right." Eric nodded understandingly, "Wait till the first date and see how things go from there." He repeated.

"Correct." Jackie replied with one nod of her head, "So until then, I'm not your girlfriend and you're not my boyfriend."

"Ok. And I'm still gonna talk to Donna, maybe see if I can get her to understand a little more." Eric informed before looking over at Jackie—who once again had found her way to the phone. "But while I'm doing that, I'll need someone to talk to Hyde."

Jackie turned around to face him, "Eric,"

"Yeah?" he asked in a hopeful tone, he really wished she would say she'd do it.

"Do you want hand tossed or deep dish?" she asked and his smile dropped to the floor.

"Jackie!"

"Ok, ok." Jackie said putting her hands up in defense, "Hand tossed it is."

Eric swiftly stood up from his seat and walked over to where Jackie was. He placed his hand on the button the hook of the phone, to keep Jackie from ordering the pizza.

"Jackie, come on." He said almost pleading, "You've got to talk to Hyde."

Jackie fought back the urge to slam the receiver on his index finger and instead responded to his statement with a question.

"Why should I?" she asked. "After what he said in there…I've got nothing left to say to Steven."

He could see he was fighting a loosing battle, so ever so slowly he removed his finger from the hook and shrugged his shoulders.

"Alright Jackie, I guess you're right. I mean I'm not your boyfriend who can tell you what to do. It's just…I didn't want things between me and Hyde to go back to the way they were when I first got here. It really wasn't good for anyone." Eric said, looking like a puppy that had just been kicked, "Especially for Mom."

"Ugh!" Jackie groaned and Eric quickly smiled, knowing he'd gotten her with his last trick.

"Fine, I'll do it!" she announced, "But only for Mom."

Eric nodded, trying not to show how happy he was feeling at the moment, "Right. For Mom."

The two nodded their heads at each other before Jackie made one more attempt to order in something to eat. And this time Eric was really going to let her, but then suddenly a thought entered his mind.

"Jackie, wait a minute." He said stopping her from putting in the third number. "Mom. Dad's staying with Mom tonight."

"Yeah, so?"

"So where am I gonna sleep?" Eric asked before elaborating, "I've pretty much been sleeping either in there with Mom or in your room when you or Hyde were with her. But this time Dad's gonna be with Mom, you'll be in your room, and Hyde is his…where does that leave me?"

It was a rare moment as Jackie stayed quiet. She hadn't given much thought to it before, but they did have a bit of a problem here. However she was on her way to finding a solution when Eric interrupted with his own thoughts.

"Guess, I'll have to go to a hotel." He said and then went on in a false tone of disappointment, "Oh and you'll have to give me all of my luggage back."

Jackie tilted her head slightly, "Nice try, Nerd Boy, but we're sticking with the deal."

Seeing Eric's grin fall, Jackie had to shake her head.

"I don't see why you even want your stuff back so bad anyways. You already have your necessities." She reminded, "You've got your toothbrush and extra change of clothes. What're you missing? Your Spiderman boxers?"

Eric's green eyes nearly pooped out of their sockets, "Those were a gift!"

"Who gives Spiderman underwear as a gift?" she asked with a smirk.

"I…I…" he struggled before suddenly realizing something, "Wait. What're you doing looking at my underwear?"

He then proceeded to give her a look with one of his eye brows raised higher than the other. Jackie crossed her arms over her chest and returned the look before deciding to speak.

"I had to look through your stuff to decide what crumb to give you." She quickly reminded, "And you can forget about getting your luggage back and staying at a hotel. You're staying here."

Eric looked at her as if she were crazy, "Jackie, almost every room in this house has someone sleeping in it. Where am I gonna sleep."

Jackie smiled a mischievous smile as she looked at Eric, "I have an idea."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__There you go Chapter 28 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Who did call Uncle Marty? What will happen when Eric talks to Donna? What will happen when Jackie talks to Hyde? Will anyone talk to Randy? Where is Eric going to sleep in this full house? And just what was Jackie doing looking at Eric underwear? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	30. Got It

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Oh my goodness, I am so so so so a million and one more 'so's sorry! I have just been swamped with school work. Really! And just when it seems like I'm headed to the surfaces and everything's gonna be ok, some big wave comes in and drags me back into the deep waters! Really annoying, maybe I should start wearing a lifejacket or something. Anywoo I am so very sorry for the late update and for such a short chapter, it really is compared to the ones I had been posting, but its just a little something to help get me towards the shore once again. A couple of notes for you all today. First of all thank you so much for the reviews, they really keep me going and without them, this chapter probably wouldn't be up now. Second, please remember I am not a doctor…I am taking an anatomy class right now but don't ask me how it's going. Third, can you believe it, it has been nine months since I started putting up chapters for this fic! WOW! That's as long as a pregnancy! And I do feel like this story is kinda like my little baby and I am so grateful that you guys are liking and have stayed tune even after all this time. Nine months and we're just gonna be finishing the first week! Hope you guys will keep reading despite how long it's taking to finish. And fourth, I am sooo sorry for the short update and the very late one. However it does have quite abit of Eric and Jackie in it, so hopefully that makes up for it. Enough of my ramblings, you've waited long enough, Enjoy!_

* * *

"_What about hospitals?" Hyde's voice was heard asking from behind the camera._

_Kitty titled her head slightly at the question, "Well Steven, I did work in a hospital for over fifteen years. And I lived in one for almost six months, thanks to the cancer…"_

"_So you like them?" Hyde question rather than stated._

"_No." Kitty shook her head, "Not very much, really."_

"_So why did you become a nurse?" a far off voice asked._

_Hyde moved the camera away from Kitty and over the far left of the couch where Jackie was sitting with crossed arms over her chest. It had been several minutes since her attempt—failed attempt—to take over the video. Her not being able to come up with a question caused Hyde to quickly take Kitty's video back in the direction he wanted it to go. _

"_Sorry, already asked that question along time ago." Hyde shared in anything but an apologetic tone of voice, "So much for Miss. TV Talk Show Host."_

_Jackie gave defiant stare towards Hyde, "I could still so be a TV talk show host!" she argued, "Those people have their question made in advance and half the time they don't even write them!"_

"_Yeah, well…" Hyde began to fight back, leaving the camera's focus on his ex-girlfriend but still catching a glimpse of the frown on his surrogate mother's face._

"_Now Steven, Jackie." Kitty called out, holding a palm up in front of each of them, putting an end to their squabble, "What did I say about fighting in my video?"_

_Two sighs were heard before the two spoke together, "No fighting in your video."_

"_Right." Kitty nodded, "Jackie, I think your question was a very good question."_

_Hyde opened his mouth to speak, but Kitty interrupted him before he got the chance._

"_Steven, I know you already asked that question; and it was a very good question then too." She told the young man behind the camera, "But I think it also fits in very well here too. After all there are some details I didn't get to give you before that I can give to you now."_

_While Kitty sat on the sofa with a bright, motherly smile on her face, Jackie had scooted closer and smiled smugly at the video camera before sticking her tongue out at it in a child-like manner. That made him roll his eyes._

"_Fine." He sighed, not wanting to argue with Kitty, but wishing Jackie hadn't gotten her way so easily, "So you hate hospitals?"_

_Kitty frown just slightly, "It's not that I hate them, Steven. It's just…I always thought hospitals were so sad and gloomy." She began to explain to both her adopted children—and future generations, "They're filled with people sick with diseases and people who are sick with worry."_

"_I thought that if I became a nurse I would be able to be there in a hospital and help a sick child feel more comfortable or give some sort of comfort to a woman waiting on some news on her husband." She continued on, "In all my years of working as a nurse I like to think I've helped some patients and family members of patients… I can't say exactly how many but I like to think I've helped take care of quite a few."_

_Hyde nodded along, "Mom, you've taken care of more than quite a few people. Inside and outside a hospital."_

_0o0o0o_

"Here, catch."

Eric looked over to where the words had come from; but before he could lift his hands up, a soft, fluffy pillow covered by a deep violet pillow case collided with the front of his face.

Once the pillow fell onto his lap, Eric looked at the pitcher of the cushion.

"Um…ow!" he said, despite the fact that the pillow really felt like it could have been part of a cloud.

Jackie rolled her eyes before she got comfortable under the covers in her bed. She and Eric were in her room. Jackie snuggled in the cozy bed, while Eric laid on the carpeted floor next to the foot of the bed and not even next to Jackie!

"It's a pillow Eric, how hard could it have hurt you?" she mumbled loud enough for him to hear.

"Not as hard as this floor's gonna hurt me." He replied as he set the tossed pillow on the floor and laid his head on top of it.

Though Jackie had been kind enough to cover the ground with a few blankets, as an attempt to create cushion, the pillow was the only things that felt nice to lye on. Still Eric was determined to find some form of other comfort in his make shift bed. He tossed to his left, then he tossed to his right, and then to his left again—making annoyed groans and moans as he did so.

"You know," Jackie began to say, her eyes wide open showing just how annoyed she was with the noises Eric was making—from his moans to the rustling sounds of the blankets. "We could always go with your suggestion from a few days ago and set up your bed on the kitchen table." She said almost threatening.

Eric sighed in defeat. He settled on lying on his back, the same position he had started with, "I think I should be the one up on the bed and you on the floor."

Jackie sat herself up, looking over at Eric with a puzzled and slightly curious look on her face, "And why's that?"

"Because I'm the guest." He reminded.

"So?"

At the confused tone of voice, Eric turned his head away from the ceiling and towards Jackie's direction However, from where he was laying on the floor, he was unable to see Jackie and instead talked to the side of the mattress he lay by.

"So the hostess is supposed to do whatever the guest wants, so that the guest will be comfortable." Eric explained, "And sleeping in a bed would make this guest very comfortable."

Jackie shook her head and laid back down, "Sorry. Hostess's room, hostess's rules." She replied closing her eyes, "You're sleeping on the floor."

"Jackie, come on." Eric said, trying not to plead, "I don't wanna sleep on the floor."

"Well neither do I." the tired brunette retorted with only a few seconds later.

The room suddenly went quite, surprising Jackie very much. She opened her eyes again and frowned, waiting a few seconds for Eric to say something, anything. She had thought that the argument would have lasted much longer, but was thankful that it had been quick and easy and she'd gotten her way, letting her stay in her bed.

She closed her eyes again, smiling slightly and deciding she should get some sleep.

Jackie was only a few seconds away from drifting off to La La Land when there was a slight weight shift over on the left side of her mattress. The brunette's mismatched eyes flew open and landed on Eric Forman sitting on the empty side of the bed. When he saw that he'd been caught, he tried to play the innocent card—a card he'd never been too good at playing.

He put on his best shy smile and raised his right hand, "Hi."

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked with a scowl as she sat up.

"Well you said you didn't wanna sleep on the floor. And I didn't wanna sleep on the floor. So I figured we should both sleep on the bed." Eric shared with Jackie's frown stayed in place; he shrugged his shoulder slightly, "This way everyone wins."

The frown on Jackie's forehead deepened and she shook her head. "As if, Forman."

Jackie then proceeded to stretch her small arm out towards Eric. She didn't use all of her strength but Eric not being aware of what she was doing made it a lot easier and quicker to push him off the mattress and onto where he was supposed to be sleeping.

Taking only a second or two to process what had just happened, Eric popped himself back up on his knees and looked over at the occupant of the comfy bed he so wanted to be on.

"Come on Jackie." Eric pleaded ever so lightly in his voice, but his actions—crawling closer to the bed on his knees—said other, "Why can't we both sleep in your bed?"

"Because!" Jackie argued, turning away and giving her back to Eric.

Unfortunately, 'because' was not a good enough answer for Eric. If was going to be forced to sleep on the floor when there was plenty of room on the bed in the same room he was sleeping in, he wanted a good reason. He wanted details.

"Because what?" he questioned, still on his knees, "If it's cause of the whole 'cooties' thing, those things usually go away after elementary school."

Jackie rolled her eyes, still facing the opposite way as she mumbled, "Not in your case."

She really didn't care if he'd heard her or not, but Jackie was definitely surprised when she heard him respond to her statement.

"You didn't seem to be too worried about catching them when we were downstairs." Eric reminded in a singing tone of voice.

The tiny form under the covers sat up and turned over to look at Eric, she titled her head before speaking. "Gee Eric, I was thinking about letting you in the bed but now…you can forget it." She told him keeping her voice in an innocent tone.

Eric's eyes nearly bugged right out of his head as he watched Jackie smile almost evilly at him before turning over once again. He didn't know he had been close to getting into her bed with her, if he had he would've kept his mouth shut and the comment too himself…at least until he was in the bed.

"Jackie, please. Come on, please let me sleep in your bed with you." He pleaded, no longer caring how desperate he sounded.

He may not have been very old, but he wasn't as young as he use to be and even back then sleeping on the floor killed his back in the morning. Eric moved even closer to Jackie's bed—still on his knees—until he could rest his clasped hands on the mattress. Feeling the shift of weight once again, Jackie flipped over and tried not to laugh at the scene in front of her.

Eric continued, "Jackie please. I promise, I'll be quiet…I'll be on my best behavior…just please let me sleep with you!"

"Huh." Jackie said as she propped the left side of her head in her head, "You're actually begging to sleep with me, while on your knees at my bedside…I didn't think that would happen until at least our third date."

There was a pause in the room as Eric took in what Jackie and said and then looked down and finally realized just what he was doing and how pathetic—kinda perverted—he must have looked. Not a second later Eric jumped up and on to his feet, hurriedly making his way back to his improvised bedding.

"Just so you know, I wasn't on my knees, begging, _at_ your bedside." Eric stated out loud, sitting down over the blankets but not yet lying down, "I was on my knees begging, _next to_ your bedside. There is a difference."

Jackie gave a small smile as she tried to get comfortable once again, "Whatever you say, Eric."

"I think it's whatever you say too, Jackie." He replied from the ground, "After all we haven't even had our first date and already you're thinking of our third date."

Jackie's eye lids uncovered her multicolored eyes, showing the surprise in them. She remained lying on her side, thinking of a response, she hadn't expected him to call her on that. It was another second or two before Jackie came up with a reply she thought would end the conversation and allow her to finally get some of her beauty sleep.

She quickly sat up, mouth open ready to send out her message but her mind went blank as soon as she saw Eric's head popped up at the foot of her bed, a haughty smirk playing on his lips. She was taken aback and jumped back just slightly before she let her own smile appear on her soft lips.

"You see?" Jackie said gesturing her hand towards Eric, "This is why you can't share a bed with me."

"Why?" Eric questioned, a confused frown crossing his forehead if only for a seconds, before it went back to being a smug smirk…if not smugier. "Because I'm so devastatingly handsome and charming you don't think you could keep your hands off me?"

There was a snort released before the actual answer, "Yeah, ok." Jackie replied, "If that'll make you happier and more importantly keep you out of my bed."

"Well it has made me happier." He said, at last laying his head on the cushion she'd thrown at him earlier, "And it'll keep me away from your bed for a good few minutes." He joked.

Jackie giggled softly and the sound made Eric's smile grow, not out of smugness but happiness. Jackie was happy and that made him happy; it felt a bit strange to think like that but then again, not strange at all.

"Good night, Jackie." he called out to her.

"Goodnight, Eric." Jackie said soon after, "Have fun sleeping on the same thing people have stepped on with their muddy shoes or their stinky feet or their shoes with…"

"Ok that's it." Eric interrupted Jackie teasing as he sprung off the pile of blankets and onto Jackie's bed. "Scoot over."

Jackie's wide eyes looked at Eric liked he had grown an extra head but he was only getting under the covers on the left side of her bed. Why did everything she say to him right now, back fire on her?

"Eric!" she shrieked, "Get out of my bed! We can't sleep in the same bed."

"Why not, Jackie?" Eric asked, still wanting a reasonable answer, "It's not like we're gonna do anything…we're just gonna sleep."

Jackie sighed, "Eric…"

"Come on Jackie I use to do this all the time with Don…"Eric cut his on words off as he realized what he was about say; whose name he was about to say.

He looked at Jackie, hoping she wasn't upset. She didn't look upset or hurt, but he still felt terrible.

Clearing he throat Eric spoke up and nervously asked, "Would you believe me if I said I really meant to say 'Don'?"

"No." Jackie answered shaking her head from left to right.

"Yeah…I knew that." He confessed looking down and then back up at Jackie, "I think I'll go sleep on the floor, Jackie."

Jackie watched as Eric slowly untangled himself from the sheets and climbed out of bed. He looked so hurt and disappointed in himself. He looked so much like a sad little puppy dog and Jackie wanted nothing more than to give the little puppy a comforting hug. The poor guy was going through so much already.

"Eric…"she called out, ready to tell him how she wasn't bothered by what he'd said. Because she really wasn't.

"It's ok, Jackie." he said while getting into his 'bed' and this time laying down without a fight, "I can sleep on the floor."

Silence took over the room. Jackie wasn't quite sure what to say to Eric that would make him feel better without making him think she was just saying that just to make him feel better. She wanted him to know that she meant her words.

She sighed and almost threw herself back against her pillows, trying to come up with something. However, just when she'd gotten her mind on the right track a voice put a fast halt to her thoughts.

"Jackie, I just want you to know I wasn't thinking of Donna right now." Eric shared, keeping his voice serious and yet soft, "I was just thinking of you know…the moment."

The brunette remained mute, looking up at the ceiling and listening to what Eric felt he needed to say.

"It's just…I've known Donna since I was like six years old. She's in a lot of my memories…just like the rest of you guys are. And I can't just erase Donna from those memories." He went on, he gaze set on the same ceiling Jackie had hers on, "because then I'd end up having to erase a lot of those memories and I really don't wanna do that because…"

"Because those things have made you who you are today." Jackie finished for him.

Eric nodded his head, amazed at how she was able to take the words right out his mouth, "Yeah."

"I know, what you mean." She added.

She really did. It was the same thing with Steven and Michael. They had been a part of her life for so long, they played major roles even when they weren't dating. And even if they had both hurt her she couldn't just cut them out of her life and pretend they didn't exist. There were too many photos and memories that she held close to her heart that involved the two of them.

But that didn't mean she was in love with either of them. Yes, she cared about both Steven and Michael but she wasn't head over heels in love with them as she'd had been when they were teenagers.

And Jackie knew this was the same case with Eric and his feeling towards Donna.

"Eric." She called, sitting back up and leaning over to look down at the young man pretending to be asleep.

He opened his eyes and looked towards her, "Yeah?"

Jackie tired to keep her facial expression as Hyde would say 'Zen' but just could help but let a smile crack onto her face, "Get in here."

There was no need to say that twice. There wasn't even a second between the words leaving Jackie's and Eric leaping into bed beside her. Jackie tried to look annoyed as he nestled himself under the covers, but couldn't help but let out a giggle.

"I knew my plan would work." Eric shared out loud once he was settled in.

"Yeah, ok." Jackie mockingly agreed, she knew none of that had been planed, "Let's just get a couple of thing straight, ok?"

"Alright." He nodded.

"Alright. First of all this is not a permanent ant thing, so don't get use to it." She warned, abit teasingly, "Tomorrow we're working out a whole knew sleeping arrangement with everyone."

He nodded again.

"And second…I just wanted to make sure that tomorrow…we're still, you know…talking."

"Well yeah." Eric replied frowning just a tiny frown, "I mean we've been talking since I got here and well….why ruin a good thing?"

Jackie's smile reappeared on her face at hearing Eric's words. He called their talking 'a good thing' that sounded really nice. Still that wasn't what she was talking about.

"No, not us talking to…us." She said waving her hand between the two of them, "I mean us talking to…them."

Now Eric knew what she was talking about; though he had been guessing something along the line before, he just wanted to have a little fun.

"Oh yeah, them. Yeah we're still gonna talk to them. As soon as we can." He said with a nod, "You'll talk to Hyde."

Jackie nodded, "Right. And you'll talk to Donna."

"Right." Eric said, it now being his turn to nod.

"And your dad."

Eric continued to nod his head, "Ri…wait what?" he whipped his head to his right and looked at the tiny young woman.

"And your dad." Jackie repeated, getting comfortable on her side of the bed just as Eric sat himself up on his. "You're talking to him too."

"But…what…_why_?" Eric finally managed to ask, "I already talked to him earlier in the kitchen, remember?"

Jackie turned her resting head, towards him, "No your dad talked to you. All you did was sit there with this really weird look on your face…you didn't say anything."

"Yeah I did." Eric tried to argue.

"When he was already in the next room." Jackie was quick to remind.

"Last I checked, that was still talking."

Out of frustration, Jackie let out a heavy sigh; she really wanted to get some sleep. "Ok look Eric, if you don't promise me you'll talk to your dad tomorrow, you're back on the floor."

Eric was quiet. He really didn't want to go back on the floor, especially after all he'd done to get up here now. Then again he didn't want to talk to his father…but things hadn't been as bad as he thought they'd be earlier. Maybe if he did talk to Red things would go good, after all hadn't he just said he was glad he was home? That was a pretty good sign.

Maybe Red wasn't the one he should be so worried about talking to, maybe it was the other person he need to speak to.

"Ok, I'll talk to Red." Eric agreed, but decided to add in a catch, just incase the display in the kitchen had been a sort of cruel set up by his father, "But if I do, I want another crumb of my luggage."

For a few seconds Jackie was silent as thought over the pros and cons of the request. In the end the pros had just a few more points, and so she gave in.

"Ok fine." She nodded, "I guess I could give you back your Spider-Man underwear."

There was a small intend on Eric's forehead as he looked down at her, "Seriously Jackie how long were you looking at my underwear for?"

Fighting back a laugh Jackie shook her heads, "Good night, Eric."

"Good night, Jackie." He replied choosing to forget the earlier comment and get some rest instead.

The two of them laid both silent and still in the soft bed. It wasn't big where they had a good few feet between them, but it wasn't so close where they had their elbows in each other's face, it was almost perfect. And it didn't feel at all awkward but actually pretty fitting.

Lying on his back, Eric turned his head to the side to look at Jackie. She was lying on her left side, facing him but her eyes were shut. He smiled as he watched her, hoping he wasn't acting too much like his perverted foreign friend as he watched her sleep. He just couldn't help it, he'd never seen her sleeping before. She looked gorgeous.

Little did he know that Jackie wasn't asleep at all. And she could feel a pair of eyes burning into her. She suddenly remembered something and her eyes fluttered open and met his green ones.

"Oh Eric, I forgot." She said, not sitting back up, "If you hog up the blankets, I will literally kick you off the bed and onto the floor."

Eric was ready to open his mouth and respond to her threat, but he never got the chance to. He soon found that his lips hand been covered with Jackie's, in a tender, loving goodnight kiss.

Smiling slyly, she pulled away and kept her eyes on him, "Got it?"

"Got it." He repeated in a high pitched voice as he eagerly nodded his head up and down.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__There you are my friends, Chapter 29 of "Two Weeks"( Finally!) Hope you liked!_

_How will the talks with Hyde and Donna go? Where will Eric sleep after tonight? Is there going to be a third date for Eric and Jackie? How will their first date go? Will Eric talk to Red? What will the two have to say to each other? And will Eric get his Spider-Man underwear back? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	31. Last One There's Middle Name's Beluah!

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note:**__ Hi there everyone! I am so very sorry for my tardiness once again. I truly am. I never realized just how much you have to study to get an 'A' on a test. Still haven't gone one highest was an 89 but I'm in the B area in most of my classes so I'm almost there! But anyways I am very very sorry about the long wait but it is a very very long chapter. 9,000+ Holy Moly! So I really hope this makes up for the lateness and that you all like it. I really couldn't break it up because the chapter would be just too short and I didn't want that. I really hope you guys like it1 Couple of notes. Please remember I am not a doctor, though I do have an anatomy midterm this week but we'll see how that goes. Thanks very much for the support, the patience, and of course the reviews. It all means so much to me. And don't forget it never too late to leave a first time review! I'd love to hear from you. Well that's about it I know you all are excited to get to this monstrous chapter, so get a cup of coffee, maybe a doughnut a muffin oo or a brownie and sit back and relax and…oo you may want to use the little boys/girls room before reading, it's 9,000+ words don't know if I could sit that still lol. As always, Enjoy!_

* * *

_It was a little later on in the day and Kitty's video was still in the works. Hyde remained behind the camera, fascinated by the things he was finding out from and about his surrogate mother. Jackie felt the same and she hadn't even been there too long, though from just what she had heard she planned on sticking around to hear more of what Kitty had to say—despite in protest Hyde might have._

"_When Laurie was about six and Eric was four we went on our first full family road trip." Kitty shared starting another story from the past, "We went to…"_

"_Ah jeeze." An annoyed groan interrupted Kitty._

_Hyde moved the camera to where the noise had come from and caught footage of Red Forman entering the room from the kitchen._

"_Your still doing that video?" he asked, trying to sound annoyed._

_Kitty smiled and nodded her head while looking at her husband, "That's right Red. It is just so much fun."_

_The video camera swung from Kitty and back to Red. He had now moved closer into the room and was standing beside his armchair where Jackie had made herself comfortable. _

"_Alright Loud One," he said looking down at the young woman, "get out of the chair."_

_Jackie effortlessly got up from the green chair allowing Red to take a seat in his chair. Once he was comfortable, Jackie decided to speak._

"_You know Red, you should do a video too." She repeated an idea Kitty had given him earlier in the day, "Oo and I could do your video the way Steven's doing Mom's…only I'll be infront of the camera too because…well the camera loves me."_

_Red held back the urge to roll his eyes as he looked around his chair for his paper, "Jackie, I don't want to make a video like that right now."_

"_Don't worry Red, you do your video with Jackie and it won't be made any time close to right now." Hyde said, staying behind the camera, "She'd probably wanna come up with the questions before and it takes her about an hour to come up with two."_

_Jackie glared at the camera and the man behind it, "At least I'm not like Steven who…"_

"_Alright, alright that's enough." Red ordered in his firm, sternly fatherly voice. He had seen Kitty's worried face and the arguments between these two made him want to be back in Korea._

"_You two keep fighting and you'll be fighting off my foot as it tries to get in your ass…and believe me you will loose." He informed the duo as he opened up his found newspaper._

_The room was silent as the message, well threat really, had been well received. _

"_How much longer is this video gonna take, Steven?" _

_Hyde struggled to find his voice again, "Uh I don't know Red. It kinda depends. Either we run outta tape or Mom runs out of things to say."_

"_My money's on the tape." Red stated, covering his face up by the paper, "You wait for Kitty to run out of things to say and the video would go on for days."_

_Hyde moved the camera back to Kitty to get her reaction. She only shook her head at Red before looking back at the camera._

_She smiled just slightly, "Doesn't he say just the sweetest things?_

0o0o0o

Eric woke up the next morning thinking—and hoping—that he'd wake up with a certain brunette snuggled up in his arms. Maybe even her laying her head on his chest, while his arms had found their way around her waist. Well that one was abit of a long shot. Still he hoped it would be the sight to greet him…or maybe the sight of Jackie peacefully sleeping on her side of the bed; she looked beautiful while she slept.

Whatever sight it was that would welcome him in the morning, Eric expected it to have Jackie in it. They had slept in the same bed together the previous night.

So when Eric did wake up he was more than surprised to find the right side of the bed empty.

With a puzzled expression on his face, Eric slowly whirled his head around the bedroom in search of the former cheerleader. But there was no such luck.

Eric threw the covers off his legs and climb out of Jackie's bed. If Jackie wasn't in this room she had to be one of the rooms in the house; she shouldn't be too hard to find. He was ready to race out the bedroom door when he suddenly remembered something from yesterday. Two little something from yesterday.

His jeans and polo shirt, Jackie had left him earlier that day.

With everything that had happened yesterday—him and Jackie kissing_ several_ times, getting caught by their friends, that big face-off with everyone, his dad coming home—the clothing had easily been forgotten.

But not today.

Eric swiftly changed out of the clothes he'd been wearing for almost three days straight and into his new attire. Never before had he been so happy to be able to wear a pair of new and clean blue jeans. And the shirt Jackie had gotten him was a nice change from his overly wrinkled shirt he had been wearing. There was also the plus that the black polo did make him look a little mysterious and sexy…he wondered if Jackie had thought about that when she was selecting the articles of clothing.

Maybe he'd bring it to her attention when he found her…of course first he had to find her.

He exited the purple bedroom and entered into the hallway. Each of the other two bedroom doors remained shut, Eric figured it was probably because those on the other side of the door were still asleep. Yesterday had been along day, for everyone, and Eric hoped today would be better. If even it was just a little bit better.

Tip-toeing swiftly through the hall Eric made his way to the staircase. Just as quickly and quietly as he had travel through the hallway, Eric went down the living room staircase. Never once did he look or even think of looking into the living room to where the sofa bed was folded out and when he reach the last step, almost automatically, Eric made left turn into the small den.

When Eric entered the kitchen he felt like he was having a deja vu moment.

He had walked into an empty kitchen and looked around the room until he got to the glass doors. There was a sight that was quite similar to one he'd seen on his first morning back home.

The garage door was open, the Vista Cruiser was out in the driveway, the hood was up and someone was deep in there with only their lower half visible.

There were now two people Eric knew who worked on his old car like that. But he had a good feeling about who was working on it now. Jackie wasn't in bed with him this morning, which meant she was already up and moving. The door to his parents' bedroom was still closed upstairs, so he'd figured they were both still asleep or his dad wanted to spend some time with just his mom; he had been gone for almost a week.

It looked liked Eric had found his missing bedfellow.

Sliding the door to the right, Eric stepped outside and over to the figure under the parked vehicle's hood.

"So this is where you snuck off to huh?" he asked the half of the figure that wasn't buried in the inside of the Cruiser. "You know I'm starting to think you're working on this thing just to give out a good view of you're a…Aahh!"

Eric's flirtatious comment was soon put to a halt, the second he saw the figure move allowing a balding head to become evident. Soon after that Red Forman stood up straight and faced his son with a deep aggravated frown, making Eric's face show even more of the horror he felt inside him.

He was so glad he hadn't gone with his first plan of smacking what he thought was Jackie's butt.

"What was that Eric?" his father asked gruffly as he continued to frown.

Though horror was still a major part of what he was feeling, panic too began to come into play for Eric. He didn't know what he should say. He didn't exactly want to tell his father about him and Jackie like this and he wasn't sure if Red was supposed to know about Jackie working on the Vista Cruiser earlier in the week. He didn't have a clue for what to say!

"I…I…you…uh…I…see…" He struggled to put a sentence together that would be able to explain his previous actions. Maybe it would be better to pretend it hadn't happened. Sounded crazy, but was worth the shot.

"Morning Dad!" he greeted with his best fake smile.

Red stared at the young man in front of him; he was getting crazier by the second. The elder Forman shook his head before turning back to the engine and other parts under the hood.

Looking back forth from his annoyed and upset father to the safe and empty kitchen, Eric realized this was the perfect chance to go back into the house. His dad was distracted with trying to fix the Vista Cruiser, Eric could easily slip into the kitchen and not be missed for even a second.

He turned himself in the direction of the patio and even took a step towards it, but then the conversation he had with Jackie the night before entered his mind.

Jackie wanted him to talk to his dad. He said he would. And she agreed to give him another piece of his luggage back if he did. As much as he wanted his Spider-Man underwear—the item Jackie was most likely to give him—that wasn't what was motivating him to go over and have an actual conversation with Red. Instead it was two things. Two women.

His mother and Jackie.

Eric knew that if he talked to his dad, it would make both women very happy. Especially his mother. And he knew making his mother happy in her last few days was very important. Not just to him or his dad but to everyone else who was here too.

Besides if Red did kill him sometime during the conversation at least Eric would know he wouldn't have died in vain.

Taking a deep breath, Eric turned himself in the opposite direction and took a few steps closer to the car and his father.

"So Dad…how's Mom? Is she asleep?" Eric asked causing Red to look up at him; though it wasn't the usual angry, threatening stare Red Forman usually gave out, it still frightened Eric and sent him back to his younger, twitchier days.

"I…I…only asked cause…I didn't really think you'd leave Mom unless she was sleeping or something…" he tried to explained, "Not that I think you left her when you went to the convention…I mean I know you did...but you didn't really…I…Morning Dad!" he repeated, hoping that like before everything that had been previously said would be forgotten.

Red shook his head and sighed, "First of all Eric, I didn't even want to go to the damn convention. She wanted me to go. And if I'd know she was still sick I never would have left." He informed before going to back under the hood, "I'm only out here because the Loud One practically kicked me out, telling me I should get some coffee and something to eat. But there's no coffee and the only edible thing I could find in the kitchen was half a stick of butter and a box crackers."

"Wait, you found crackers? Where?" Eric asked almost excitedly, but the look his father sent his way settled him down and he nervously cleared his throat, "I mean, yeah we need to go get some food from the store. We've mostly been eating take-out stuff and you know taking turns buying."

"Right." Red nodded, he knew how it worked. He, Steven, and Jackie had been in a similar situation like this before, of course Kitty wasn't half as sick then as she was now.

Eric stood uncomfortably next to his father, trying to come up with something else to say. A few more seconds of silence passed between the two men before Red straightened himself out and walked over to his work bench to retrieve a tool he needed. Eric watched his father and then moved his eyes to the complicated insides of his former vehicle.

He wished he knew something about mechanic-ing, like Jackie did. How to fix something, what the names were of the different wires and parts were, heck even how to hold a flashlight would be good. He just wished he could say something related to fixing this dinosaur of a car to his dad and maybe help make things less awkward between the two of them.

"So Eric," Red began, breaking the silence as he walked back to the car, "Jackie told me you stayed with your mother the other night. She said you helped take care of her when she got sick and brought her her medicines."

Eric stared at his father, trying to figure out just where he was going with this. The tone he was using almost made it sound like he was proud of him. And Jackie had told him? No wonder she wasn't in bed this morning she was busy setting this whole thing up.

"Uh…yeah. Yeah. I did. I changed the sheets too when Jackie took Mom into the bathroom."

Red nodded his head and looked at Eric, "I'm sure your mother really appreciated that."

Eric knew what his dad really meant, 'I really appreciate that.' He may not have said those exact words but Eric got the message and he had to try not to let his smile get too big or it could ruin the civil father son moment.

"It was no problem Dad." He said to the back of his father's head, "I really didn't mind taking care of Mom…I kind of liked it. Plus I haven't exactly helped out before this."

"You can say that again." Red muttered to himself but kept his tone loud enough for Eric to make out what had been said.

He knew a comment like this had been coming, it was just a matter of time and Eric was actually surprised at how long it took for Red to actually say it. Having a good feeling that the conversation on the topic of him not being around more was only beginning, Eric held his breath and waited for the outburst.

"You stayed with her the whole time you've been here?" Red questioned much to Eric's surprise.

The young man watched his father continue to work on the vehicle, his mouth gaping open and his eyes showing the mixture of shock and astonishment he was feeling. He didn't know how to respond—he was actually worried that it was all some sort of trap—but in the end he figured a dumb, mixed up response was better than no response at all. Maybe.

Eric shook his head 'no' before explaining, "Uh no…no. I only stayed that one night. The other nights I stayed in Jackie's room."

As soon as he said his second sentence, Eric realized how he really didn't need to give his dad that detail. And if he hadn't realized it then, when Red turned away from the engine to look at him Eric knew he had to set a few things straight.

"Not with Jackie though…no…uh she and Hyde were kinda rotating." He went on, trying to stay calm and give the right information instead of getting nervous and rambling on. So far things were going the way of the latter of the two.

"I mean not rotating….they were but they weren't…they were just kinda taking turns staying with Mom. Yeah!" Eric shouted the last word excitedly, happy to find a clear passage way, "With me in Jackie's room, Jackie would either stay with Mom or Hyde would stay with Mom and then Jackie would go stay in his room."

Once again Red stood up straight and faced his son, "So since I stayed with your mother last night and Jackie slept in her room, where did you sleep?"

It was like one of those big knocked over tree trunks had popped out of no where and now Eric had to find away around it. Only this tree trunk was big, bald, and scary.

"Uh…" Eric struggled, "Basement."

"The basement?" Red repeated, not quite believing Eric's line.

"Yes." Eric nodded and placed both his hands at the side of his hips, hoping it would give him a feeling of authority or at least give him _some_ confidence. "The basement. Hyde was in his room and uh…I stayed on the couch with Fez. Yeah, never doing that again I'll tell ya." He finished with a fake laugh that soon died down when he saw the scowl on his father's forehead.

"As happy as I am to hear that you won't be sleeping with the foreign kid, I know you're lying." Red stated, "You slept in Jackie's room. With Jackie."

Eric's green eyes widened and the seemed to look at anything but his father's matching ones, "Uh….no I didn't." he argued very weakly.

"Eric, I'm your father and you're my son right?" Red asked, walking back to his tools.

Rapidly, Eric nodded his head; biting his tongue to keep from making a smart ass comment about a blood test.

"And that means that over time some things will happen. You might know more things from school than I do…heck you might even beat me at some game. As long as it's not an actual sport." Red continued, his eyes fixated on Eric as he pointed the new tool at him, "But you will never be able to fool me."

Eric nearly gulped out of fright when Red walked away from him and back to the Vista Cruiser.

"Oh yeah and uh…" Red called out straightening his back only seconds after bending down into the car, "next time close the bedroom. You snore louder than a damn jet plane."

Shocked, embarrassed. Shocked or embarrassed. Embarrassed or shocked. Eric wasn't sure which one of the two to feel more of. Shocked because his father knew the truth and hadn't killed him yet. Or embarrassed at how loud he snored and how he had snored that loud in front of Jackie. No wonder she left him alone in bed this morning.

"It's no wonder she practically threw me out of my own room." Red said, confirming Eric's thoughts, "The poor girl wanted to get some of the sleep she couldn't get with that fog horn going off in her room."

While Eric could feel his cheeks heating up just a tad, he actually gave a small chuckle at his father's statement. It surprised him as much as it would have surprised anyone else but Eric had found that he really wasn't bothered by the jab. The truth was he realized that he had actually missed the mocking words aimed at him from Red.

Of course they weren't his favorite things in the world and if given the choice he could do with out them. But what Eric did like about his father's behavior was that it remained the same. Even though it was years later and his wife was on her deathbed, Red Forman would still speak his mind, call you a dumbass, and threaten to stick his foot up your ass. And he could probably do it all in one sentence.

And now Eric found it quite ironic the same words that he had once found so distressing in his teenage years were now words he was glad to hear.

A silence fell over the driveway once again, this time more comfortable and less tense. Red stood polishing a wrench with an old rag while Eric stood next to him, hands in pockets, trying to come up with something else to say.

Though the truth was he really didn't have to do that. He'd talked to Red and Red had talked to him. He'd kept his word to Jackie and now he could go on his merry way to the kitchen and leave his father alone. Only he didn't want to. Another big surprise. Something inside Eric told him that this day was going to be full of surprises.

"Uh Dad." Eric said out loud, getting Red to look up from his task. "I uh…I just wanted to say that the other day I apologized to Mom. For everything I didn't do and everything I did do."

Red looked back down at the tool in his hand, "Bet that took awhile."

"Yeah, yeah it did." He replied nodding his head; he knew if he hadn't broken down the way he did when he was talking to Kitty, he'd still be up there going down the list. "But uh, she said everything was ok and she forgave me and all. And I just wanted to apologize to you now Dad."

Red's brows knitted together, "Eric, I'm not…"

"I know. I know you're not the sick one." Eric interrupted already knowing what his father was going to say, "But just like I hadn't been here for Mom, I wasn't here for you…to help take care of Mom and help you go through all of this, the way Hyde and Jackie have. And I'm sorry for that."

Red stared back at his son not sure of how to respond. He was very pleased to find out Eric had apologized to Kitty but to hear his son say 'I'm sorry' to him…he didn't know what to say.

"Yeah well…um..." Red cleared his throat uncomfortably before reaching into his back pocket to retrieve his wallet. "Here."

A frown appeared on Eric's face as he looked at the two twenty dollar bills his father was handing him. Was Red bribing him to stop talking about this emotional kind of stuff he didn't like even thinking about?

Seeing his son's confused expression Red released a sigh before explaining, "You and Jackie said you all were taking turns paying for the take out. So take this money, get the keys to the Toyota from the kitchen and go get something for you and the other Sweat-hogs to eat."

"Um…ok." Eric answered sounding a bit uncertain as he took the money from his father's hands and turned towards the patio.

"And I want my change back." Red called after him.

Eric turned back around and nodded, "Right."

"I'm serious Eric." Red warned, "If I don't get that change I'll stick my foot up your ass to go look for it."

"Yes, sir." Eric nodded again this time letting a smile creep onto his lips.

Red had threatened him with a foot in the ass comment. He was now officially home.

0o0o0o

"Finally!"

"It's about time!"

Were the words that welcomed Eric as he walked into the kitchen with arms full of two brown paper sacks. The phrases had come from both Kelso and Fez as they sat impatiently at the round table. However they weren't the only ones in the room, Betsy was sitting beside them with her doll in her lap while Brooke and Jackie stood over by the coffee maker.

"It is already late in the day!" the foreigner continued to whine.

"Yeah." Kelso agreed with a nod of his head, "This breakfast is like brunch without the 'br' part. That's how late it is!"

Eric looked down at his wrist watch and then back at his friends, "Guys it's only ten in the morning."

The two pairs of eyes widened with shock at their long time friend's words.

"Ten in the morning?" Fez screeched out.

"What am I doing up?" Kelso asked and then got ready to stand up from his chair, "I'm going back to bed."

Fez nodded, "Me too."

The minute the two 'men' stood up from their seats and prepared to exit the kitchen and head back to their beds, Brooke quickly rushed over to them. She didn't want either of them going back to sleep; they were sometimes harder to wake in the mornings than Betsy.

"Oh no you don't." she said as she placed her slim hands on each of their shoulders and gently pushed them down forcing them sit back down, "No one is going back to sleep unless its nap time. Which it's not." She said giving a stern look to her husband who looked about ready to make a comment, "Now come on, lets enjoy this nice breakfast Eric bought us."

Eric smiled at the way Brooke had handled his two child-like friends, but as he placed the bags on the table and started to help Brooke unload the items he heard his foreign friend mumble something to himself.

"A nice _late_ breakfast." He said and Kelso snickered in agreement causing Eric to send a confused frown their way. Hadn't they just said it was too early?

As some light morning chatter filled the avocado colored kitchen and the breakfast items continued to be unpacked and placed on the table, the swinging door pushed open. Carefully and a bit nervously the figure made its way into the room.

"Um hey you guys."

Those in the kitchen turned their heads to the door and saw the tall blonde woman; a few smiles were then sent her way.

"Um this phone has by chance rung has it?" Donna asked as she gestured to the yellow wall phone, "Cause I was sitting in the living room and the phone in there never rung so I thought maybe it wasn't working and that's why it hadn't rung. But just because the phone in there isn't working doesn't mean that the others phones aren't working…and if they are working then they'd be ringing. So has it rung?"

The group looked back at Donna not knowing what quite to say. They weren't use to seeing the independent feminist acting almost vulnerable. Some of her friends in the room looked worried while others, especially two others, looked amused.

Fez raised his hand, "I am sorry Donna. Could you say that again?"

Brooke smacked her husband's best friend's shoulder before turning her attention back to Donna, "No, I'm afraid not Donna. You still haven't heard from Randy?"

"No." Donna groaned and then flopped down onto kitchen chair, her elbows propped onto the table, "I haven't heard from him since last night when called that one time. And all he said was he still needed time to think and that he was staying at a friend's house. But he didn't say what friend so there's no way I can get in touch with him."

A concerned frown made his way onto Eric's face. He didn't know Randy still hadn't come back, he could have sworn he saw him there with Donna on the sofa bed today…then again when he really stopped to think about it he couldn't remember seeing Donna on the sofa sleeper this morning—he'd been so concentrated on finding Jackie.

"Wait so Randy hasn't come back since he left last night?" he asked

Donna turned her head to look at Eric and let him see the angry glare she wore on her face, "No. Unlike you, I slept alone last night."

The harsh tone she used with him nearly sent chills up Eric's spine; however he was too distracted on Donna's actual words to react to her tone. How did she know about him and Jackie sharing a bed last night? Did she see them? Had Red told her? Did Jackie tell her? Was his snoring that loud? Maybe she didn't even know about it and was just saying the words to see if he'd confess.

Eric opened his mouth to respond to the comment but before his word came, Jackie's were heard.

"Eric, could you help me out over here?"

He moved his head away from his ex and over to Jackie. She was standing by an open cabinet, her hand reaching up for a stack of plates and there was a look in her in her eyes that was telling Eric to get over there.

With a quick nod he agreed, "Yeah ok."

Eric causally but still quickly made his way to Jackie's side. Once he was there he reached up and effortlessly grabbed a pile of plates from the top shelf. The shelf wasn't that high, not even for Jackie. If she had only lifted herself on her toes she could have easily gotten the dishes herself. This was just another something that told Eric that she needed to tell him something else.

"Here you go." He said handing her the stack, "I thought we were using paper plates?"

Jackie took the plates from his hands, "We ran out."

"Wow…we really need to go to the store."

"You can say that again." She replied with a small laugh.

He leaned himself back against the counter top and looked at the raven beauty, "So what else did you want to tell me?"

"I wanted…"she began to explain until she realized what she had been asked, a puzzled expression appeared on her face, "How did you know I wanted to tell you something else?"

"Just had a feeling." Eric replied with a shrug, "Plus you kinda had this look on your face that said it."

Jackie's confused look turned to one of surprise and a smile was fighting it's way onto her lips. No one had ever been able to pick up on the messages she would send out using her facial expressions. Especially not her other boyfriends. Steven was always too Zen to notice any expression that wasn't Zen. And Michael…well there were only a few things Michael Kelso noticed about girls and their facial expressions were not one of them.

"You…you caught that?" she asked still surprised.

"Yeah." Eric answered, not knowing why exactly she seemed so surprised.

He had always tried to read the expressions Donna would give him and after a few years he got the hang of it. Of course it wasn't too difficult when the messages behind the looks were either anger or occasional happiness.

"Sooo?" he asked the now smiling brunette.

"Oh right." Jackie said as she shook herself out of her daze, "I just wanted to warn you about Donna. She's still pretty pissed about last night."

Eric nodded and took another quick look at the frowning blonde sitting at the table with the others, he then turned back to Jackie. "I noticed….I had no idea that Randy hadn't come back yet."

"Neither did I." she informed, "And I think that's another thing that's got her so upset. Just be careful about what you say to her, I said good morning to her earlier and she probably would have tackled me to the floor if I hadn't come in here as soon as I heard Brooke call me."

The last thing Eric had heard was 'and she probably would have tackled me to the floor' and then his mind drifted off into its own world. A world where the two women did actually create a hot and messy and steamy cat fight.

He nervously cleared his throat, "You know maybe you should go try and say good morning to her again. Maybe this time she'll be nicer and if not…you think we could find some mud outside even though it's snowing?"

Jackie shook her head and slightly pushed his shoulder, trying to not smile, "You're such a guy."

"Last time I checked." He replied with a smirk.

Again Jackie shook her head but it was too late to fight back her grin, "Just remember what I said ok? Because I really don't think you wanna have that 'Talk with Donna' with Donna and in front of everyone."

"Right." Eric nodded his head becoming serious again, "Have you talked to Hyde yet?"

"Um…yeah. Yeah I did. Earlier this morning." She answered not sounding very believable, "I sad 'good morning' and he said 'morning.'"

Eric titled his head slightly to the left, "I'm sorry…I believe someone once said that _that_ doesn't count as talking." He said and Jackie opened her mouth to speak but never got a word in, "And neither does talking to a Zen Hyde."

"Ok that is not fair!" Jackie protested pointing her index finger at him, "Steven being Zen is a normal as Steven can be. It's impossible to talk to a Un-Zen Steven."

"It's not impossible, Jackie. If I can talk to Red, have an actual, decent conversation with him, you can talk to a non-Zen Hyde."

The smile on Jackie's lips came into sight again, "You talked to your dad?"

"Oh don't act so surprised, missy." Eric gently warned, "I know you set it up. You did everything but stand there in the driveway with us showing us cue-cards."

"Even if I did do that, five bucks says neither one of you would have followed them." She teased and the two shared a quick laugh, "So really, how did it go?"

For a few seconds Eric played the scene in the driveway in head and then nodded and smiled ever so lightly.

"It went pretty good." He said honestly, "I think we had a really good talk."

Jackie's smile grew, she knew he was telling the truth and that he and Red really did have a nice father-son talk; and it was all thanks to her.

"And the most important part of that is…" Eric continued in a joyful tone of voice that interrupted Jackie from her thoughts, "I get another piece of my luggage back."

"Oh that's right. Hmm what will it be this time?" Jackie agreed and placed her finger to her cheek—pretending to think—"Oh I know…your precious Spider-Man underwear."

A smug smirk appeared on his face, "I'll be sure to wear them on our third date." He growled.

The words and tone of voice quickly sent Jackie into a fit of giggles that Eric couldn't help but join in on. Luckily the others in the room seemed occupied by other things and only one person seemed to notice the couple hiding in the corner.

"Hey, you two lovebirds." Brooke called out as she stepped closer to them so that the others—Donna especially—wouldn't hear, "I could use some help over here."

Keeping the smiles on their faces, both Jackie and Eric nodded in agreement and then walked over to the table to help with breakfast. The room quickly filled with small talk as piles of food were packed onto actual dishes; then suddenly everything became quite as a familiar voice was heard—sounding not to far away.

"Steven I told you, you could let them stay here but you were going to be the one in charge of them. There's no reason for me to come down here…"

Fez dropped his fork onto his plate creating a loud clicking sound, his eyes and mouth opened wide and the expression on his man-pretty friend's face wasn't so far off either.

"That's…that's Red." Kelso stuttered out

Fez could already feel his heart rate quickening, "He's coming in here."

"And we're sitting way too close to the door!" Kelso practically shouted as he noticed that he and Fez were sitting on the left side of the white table.

"Ayyeee!" was all Fez could say.

Eric watched his friends' anxious behavior; Kelso was scanning the room with worried eyes and Fez couldn't seem to be trembling in his seat. Eric could relate to how they were feeling—it was how he felt before the talk in the driveway. And while could have let them carry on with their panic attack, it was pretty funny to watch, he decided it would be better if he instead helped to ease their nerves.

"Come on you guys, it's ok. Seeing Red isn't gonna be so bad…"

"Eric's right. Seeing Red isn't gonna be so bad." Kelso agreed surprising everyone in the room, "As long as we're sitting as far away from him as possible!"

The others nodded their heads, that last statement sounded more like Kelso. Meanwhile Kelso and Fez jumped out of their chairs and scurried to the two empty green kitchen chairs on the right.

A relieved smile appeared on Fez's face as he relaxed, "Ah, now we are safe."

"I am anyways." Kelso said out loud with a large grin before pointing his finger at the foreigner, "You're sitting in Red's chair!"

Carefully and very, very slowly, Fez looked down at the chair he was sitting in. It looked just like the other kitchen chairs. He then looked around the table and counted and noticed each place of the other seats. It was at that moment when he realized he was in fact in Red Forman's regular kitchen chair. Fez gasped and then popped up and off the chair causing Kelso to laugh a good hearty laugh.

Fez glared down at his friend, "Oh you think that is so funny don't you?" he questioned and Kelso vigorously nodded his head, "Well you my friend are sitting in the chair_ next_ to Red's chair!"

Right away the laughter stopped and Kelso took only five seconds to process the message before leaping out of his seat.

"It's just for a couple of minutes Red, and then you can go back upstairs with Mom." Hyde could be heard saying, his voice sounding louder which only meant one thing…

"He's getting closer!" Kelso shouted.

Fez nervously played with his fingers as he practically jumped in place, "What do we do?"

"I don't know!"

Kelso and Fez continued to twitch nervously as they tried to figure out a plan and Eric couldn't help but wonder if he looked as funny when he got 'twitchy.' He and Jackie along with Brooke, Donna, and Betsy were watching the humorous scene performed by the two men until suddenly the performers both froze on the spot causing the others to turn their heads to the swinging door.

In the doorway stood a frowning Red and a Zen-looking Hyde standing behind him. Neither Fez nor Kelso knew what to do. They stood like a pair of deer caught in the headlights. Frozen, eyes wide with shock, and frightened for their life.

Finally Fez managed to get the feeling back in his legs and he jumped behind Kelso, in plans of using the man-pretty doofus as a shield. It didn't take long for Kelso to figure out what his foreign friend had planned and so just as quickly he came up with his own idea. Swiftly he lifted his daughter out of her chair and held her small form in front of himself.

Red closed his eyes and sighed, he could already feel his head starting to throb—it was too early in the morning to deal with these two idiots.

"Put the kid down." He instructed and Kelso quickly put his giggling daughter back in her seat, "And both of you Gilligan and Tattoo, sit you're a…butts down." Red ordered changing his word choice at the reminder that there were pure ears in the room.

"Gilligan and Tattoo?" Fez asked quietly to Kelso, "Who is who?"

Kelso shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. Those guys didn't even come out in the same show!"

Fez nodded in agreement and then joined Kelso in a good chuckle. A chuckle that they thought only they could hear but in reality was a chuckle that filled the room.

"I said sit." Red repeated sounding much like an army sergeant.

Instantly the laughter stopped and Fez and Kelso both dropped themselves into a kitchen chair. The only problem was they dropped themselves into the same chair, sending each other to the floor. It took several seconds before the two managed to stop falling and fighting over the seat—the seat had turned out to be Red's and so both men stayed away and sat in the places on either side of Red's chair.

Red shook his head as he rolled his eyes. The young adults could all sense his annoyance but just one of them did anything to try to calm him down. That one was Jackie as she brought over a cup of coffee.

"Here you go, Red." She said as she handed over the green mug.

As Red took the beverage and mumbled a 'thank you' to the petite young woman, Eric suddenly remembered he also had something for his father. He reached into his pocket and brought out a few bill and a couple of coins.

"Oh and here's your change, Dad." He announced as he delivered the money, "It all there. You can check."

But he didn't. A few years ago Red Forman would have taken his son's words as a challenge and actually counted to make sure he was telling the truth and the exact amount of change was in his hands; today however, all he did was take the money and put it in his won pocket.

Hyde watched the scene from the sidelines, along with everyone else, but he seemed to be the only one to notice the oddity of the sight. Why were both Jackie and Eric giving Red things? One right after another? They must have been trying to get on the older man's good side and make Hyde seem like the bad guy…

"Uh Red, why don't you get something to eat?" Hyde suggested, remembering that he hadn't come down for dinner last night.

"I'm not hungry." He replied in his gruff tone of voice.

Couldn't any of these kids see he didn't want to be down here? He didn't want to have breakfast. He didn't want coffee. Heck he probably wouldn't have even cared if Eric hadn't given him the change so soon. He just wanted to be upstairs with his wife.

Eric could see his adopted brother's worry and decided to step in and attempt to help.

"Sure you are, Dad." Eric started to say, "I got it from Phillies, you know how much you love Phillies."

Red was silent as he thought back to the many, many times he and Kitty had visited that older diner. When they'd take the kids, when it was just the two of them…he pulled himself out of the memories and shook his head.

"I said I'm not hungry." He repeated firmly, "Now I've got some coffee, so there no other reason for me to stay down here. I'm going back…"

"Come on, Red." Hyde interrupted as Red turned back around to exit through the swinging door that was now blocked by the young man he considered a second son. "You don't need to rush and skip eating. Mom said she was fine."

A frustrated sigh escaped from Red before he spoke, "Just because she said she was fine doesn't mean she fine." He reminded and headed towards the exit once more.

"Red, wait." Jackie called out. "We wanted to talk to you…about some things that happened while you were gone…things you should know about."

Her words got everyone's attention—even those who had been silent since the elder Forman came into the room. They each turned to look at Jackie curious to find out what exactly she was going to inform Red on. Was she going to tell him about her and Eric? From the look on Eric's face, it looked like only Jackie knew; he looked just as lost as the others.

Red turned around to face his favorite of the group, "Jackie, my wife is upstairs…" he drifted off having a hard time just saying the word; he couldn't say the word, "What else is there for me to know about?"

The brunette didn't know what to say. She hadn't planned on telling the man she consider a father that something—she wasn't sure what but it was something good—was going on between her and his son. Though she had a feeling that's what everyone was expecting her to do. Still no matter what she said now it would seem less important just like Red said.

"Um… the things the doctors and nurses have said about Mom." She replied in a small voice.

"Yeah." A voice, Jackie hadn't expected to agree with her, said "There's some stuff Angie's said when she's come to check on her."

Red couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at his adopted son's words, "So now it's _Angie_ huh?"

Hyde's face feel and Jackie had to smile.

"Yup." She nodded, "But he still has yet to ask her out."

Red shook his head, "Dumbass." He muttered just loud enough that he hoped Jackie and not Little Betsy had heard.

"Alright so what happened when Angela came over this last time?" he asked and then took a sip from his coffee.

Eric had taken notice that the conversation seemed to be happening on only one side of the kitchen with him, Jackie, Hyde, and his dad. Jackie and Hyde had been most of the talking lately so he decided to jump in with what he had to say.

"Well Angela came over yesterday morning and saw Mom in the kitchen…"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute." Red interrupted lifting his hand up, to stop his son from continuing, and his frown deepened "What was Kitty doing down here in the kitchen yesterday?"

The kitchen became still as Red waited to see if any of the cowards would answer him. He let mere seconds before asking another question in a much angrier tone of voice.

"Are you telling me that you all had her down here slaving over a hot stove make you breakfast because none of you six morons could figure out how to make one damn piece of toast?"

Again the room was silent and no one said anything…at least for a few more seconds.

"I am appalled!" Fez declared trying to sound angry and surprised, and in the process earned him eight frowning faces. "What? Was that not the right word?"

Red quickly dismissed the foreigners words and moved his attention back to his sons, "Well what have you got say for yourselves?"

"Look man, it's not like that." Hyde tired to argue, "We didn't force her to come down here. She did it by herself…Mom wanted to be down here."

"It doesn't matter if she wanted to be down here." Red interjected, sounding more and more upset, "Steven, I told you to take care of her."

"I have Red. And I tried to get her back upstairs, I did. But she didn't wanna go." Hyde went on.

Eric watched the scene play out infront of him and couldn't help but feel a little guilty. After all he'd been the one staying with his Mom when Kelso and Fez had helped her go downstairs. And he and Hyde did have similar reactions to seeing her in the kitchen and they'd both agreed to let her stay. He'd even helped convince Hyde!

"Hyde's right, Dad." Eric nodded, "He did try to get Mom to go back up to her room and I did too…but then I stopped and…Dad, you should've seen her down here. She looked so much better than she did up in bed. She looked healthier and a lot happier."

Hyde was surprised to hear his friend defend him like that, but didn't say anything on it. "You also said it was important for her to be happy." He reminded his surrogate father.

Now a little calmer than before, but still upset, Red cleared his throat, "What did Angela have to say when she saw that?"

"She um…she said it was good that Mom was doing things that she enjoyed and that we were spending time with her." Hyde started to explain, "But she agreed that it wasn't the greatest idea to have Mom out of bed, so she suggested this shifts idea…"

"Wait a minute, Mr. Forman." Donna called out, suddenly joining the conversation with her index finger in the pointing position, "I just wanna say that Randy came up with that same idea a few days before and Hyde just totally shot him down."

Red furrowed his brow at the former 'neighbor girl' "Alright Donna." He said not knowing what it was he was supposed to say and then looked back at the trio, "So what is this shifts idea?"

Jackie decided to take this one, "Well it pretty much like if Mom was in the hospital and we all took turns coming in to visit with her. We already set it up with us being in groups and getting two hours or so to spend with her. It would be Donna and Randy, Brooke and Kelso, Steven with Fez, and then me and Eric. We figured with Betsy, she could just go in with whoever she wanted. And now with you home we thought…"

"You would leave everything the way it is." Red finished for her.

Eric nodded in agreement, "Right…wait what?" he asked as he realized what had actually been said.

"You'll leave everything the way you have it." His father repeated.

Hyde still wasn't quite sure he'd heard right, "Are you sure, Red?"

"I'm sure." The older man replied with a nod before explaining, "Look, you all want to spend time with Kitty and she wants to spend time with you all…for what ever reason. I don't have a problem with that." There was a short pause before he continued.

"But I am not following any 'shift plan.' I am going to be with Kitty whenever and however long I want." He announced to those in the room, "And I can also kick you out of the room whenever I want, got it?"

With most of them feeling a wave a fear wash over them, the group nodded their heads understandingly.

"Good." Red nodded, "Now I'm going back upstairs with your mother. And I want all of you to fix whatever it is that caused this room to have a feeling that made me wish I was in Korea. Dumbasses."

Seeing the young mother's eyes widen and her hands fly to the young girl's ears, Red realized his wrong choice of words.

"Oh um I mean…" he struggled for only a few seconds before he realized it was really pointless, "Oh forget it Brooke, who are we kidding they're dumbasses!"

And with that said Red Forman left the room.

There was another long silence as most of the group wondered how the father-figure of the group had picked up on the tension that they were trying their best to hide.

A smile broke out on Kelso's face, "I missed Red."

Grinning in agreement Fez nodded his head.

"I'm going down to the basement to watch some TV." Hyde announced as he scratched the back of his neck and then exited to the underground room.

The others watched him leave until one of them spoke up.

"Yeah." Donna said, "I'm gonna go see if the phone down there is working."

Once Donna made her way down to the basement those sitting at the table continued on with their breakfast while the couple that remained standing exchanged looks.

"Well I guess we should go down there." Eric stated out loud.

"Right." Jackie nodded and then paused, "They are alone now."

"Right." Eric agreed, nodding and pausing shortly, "Although technically they're not alone."

"Right." She quickly agreed, "Even though they are away from everyone else that doesn't need to hear the conversations, they are with each other."

"Right." He nodded, "Meaning, they are not alone."

Jackie nodded her head, "Right. So we can't talk to them."

It was Eric's turn now, "Right. Because if we did we could just start up another argument with the four of us all talking gin the same room."

"Right. And who wants that?" she asked.

"Not me!"

Jackie smiled, relieved at the fact that the talks had been put off till later. She really had no idea what she was going to say to Steven, but she knew she was going to have to be careful with what she said and with the way she reacted to what he said. Especially now that Red was back home.

"You know what I do want though?" she asked him.

"Hmm…" Eric said pretending to think as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "I think I can guess."

"Eric, come on." Jackie said with a smile, trying to break the embrace, "I'm starving."

Eric smirked, "So am I."

As the duo giggled in the background, Fez and the Kelsos went on enjoying their breakfast quietly. Until Betsy spoke up.

"Mommy?" she asked looking to her mother, "What's a dumbass?"

Brooke's eyes became large and Fez could be heard snickering behind his hand. Luckily Kelso came to the rescue and he patted his wife's hand.

"I got this one, Babe." He said and then look to his little girl, "Well Bets, a dumbass is…your Uncle Fez."

"Burn!" both father and daughter shouted and Fez's laughter stopped as he saw the two high-five each other.

0o0o0o

An hour or two had passed since breakfast. Red was still upstairs with Kitty. Hyde and Donna remained down in the basement, though Kelso and Brooke had joined them as well. No word from Randy had been received yet. Eric and Fez had retired to the living room and Jackie and Betsy, well they were in the kitchen.

Jackie was helping zip the tiny girl into her winter jacket. After breakfast Jackie had realized she had some free time and still hadn't gotten Betsy the present she said she would, so after asking Brooke and Kelso she decided to take her goddaughter out on a little shopping spree.

"Aunt Jackie?" Betsy called out, "Will you buy me a new Barbie?"

Jackie smiled as she pulled the zipper all the way to the top of the pink and blue jacket. "Sure."

"A new Barbie needs new clothes." The young girl reminded and Jackie had to laugh.

"Yes, she does." She nodded as she stood up, "I guess we should buy her some new clothes too huh?"

Betsy's eyes brightened with excitement, "And a new Ken doll too?" she asked hopeful, "For Barbie."

Jackie's smile grew and she placed her well manicure hand on the top of the child's head, "Sweetie, I have your Uncle Hyde's credit card, I'll buy you the whole Barbie aisle!"

"Yay!" Betsy exclaimed happily causing Jackie to laugh.

However just as the joyful moment was taking place, footsteps were heard as someone entered the room.

"And where are you two pretty ladies going?" the masculine voice questioned.

Jackie turned herself around and found herself right in front of Eric Forman. She hadn't expected to see him before leaving to go shopping with Betsy. She had really hoped she wouldn't. Not because she didn't want to see him, but because she was afraid that he would accuse her of trying to get out of talking to Hyde…which she was sort of doing. But not really. After all she had promised her goddaughter she'd take her shopping.

"Um, no…"

"Shopping!" Kelso's daughter shouted happily before Jackie could finish.

Eric smiled, "Really? Can I come?"

"Sorry Eric, this is a girl thing." Jackie replied, "We're going shopping so I can buy Betsy her present. It's a godmother, goddaughter thing. Right Betsy?"

"Right." Betsy nodded, her ponytail moving slightly.

Doing his best sad face Eric looked down at his shoes, "Oh ok. But you know Betsy, I haven't gotten you a present either. I thought maybe if I went with you guys I could get it then and…"

He didn't need to say more.

"You can come!" Betsy quickly agreed.

Jackie rapidly blinked her eyes at the scene she'd just witnessed. Eric saw her action and gave a little smirk her way.

"What can I say, I'm good with kids." He said with a shrug and then turned to the little girl, "Come on Betsy, I'll race you to the car!"

Going as fast as her little legs could take her, while also being cautious of the slipper snow and ice—a trait she'd gotten from Brooke's side of the family—Betsy ran out to driveway.

Eric quickly put on his own winter jacket turned back to look at Jackie who seemed to have recovered from her slight shock.

"Come on Jackie," he said, "Last one there's…"

"A rotten egg. I know, I know." Jackie finished for him as she slowly grabbed the keys off the counter.

Another smirk played on Eric, lips, "Nooo. Last on there's middle name's _Beulah!_"

Jackie's jaw dropped and she frowned at the same time. But before Jackie could respond with words Eric had sprinted out the sliding door. Knowing there's was nothing else to do Jackie made a dash for it—thankful she'd worn her winter boots and not heels—and joined in on the race.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__And that would be Chapter 30 of "Two Weeks" (Finally!) Hope you liked!_

_When will we hear from Randy? When will Eric and Jackie talk to Donna and Hyde? Why do they suddenly seem so nervous about it? How will shopping with Betsy go? What kind of presents will she return home with? And who will win the race to the car? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until then, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care and have a nice day!_


	32. I Did

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone! Super sorry about the late update! I really am you won't believe what happened! See I usually work on this story on my dinosaur of a computer but still keep it on my USB incase something happens to the computer or so I can work on it in other places. But this Thursday a pulled a pretty big dumb-butt stunt. I took the USB out of the computer after not saving the changes to the story. Closed the document on the computer without saving changes. And lost half the chapter! So these past few days I've had to re write the chapter along with taking midterms and studying and getting sick and taking the dumb medicine that knocks me out at like 100' o'clock at night! Anywoo I'm really sorry for the late update though to be honest I almost din't post till next week but I figured you guys've waited long enough. Quick notes. Please remember I am not a doctor nor am I studying to be on…though I am watching House MD as I write this…Ah House…eh Anywoo back on topic. Thanks so much for the reviews, alerts and favorites. I am so glad that you all are staying tuned and i hope you'll continued to do so. And finally please forgive my grammar in this one I didn't really reread vover to check for mistakes because that would have taken longer to update. Oh and i'm also sorry for the long chapter once again I swear they seem much shorter in my head! Well that's all for now…Enjoy!_

* * *

"_Um ok…" Hyde said before taking a few seconds to think. _

_The peaceful quietness that filled the room, since Jackie left, suddenly felt awkward. After another squabble between Hyde the petite brunette had stomped her way to the basement claiming she was going to start making questions for Red's video and would come up with a hundred in the next hour. Hyde was willing to bet she was only up to three and she'd been down there for fifteen minutes now._

_Thinking about the questions Jackie could be coming up with unexpectedly helped Hyde come up with his next question for Kitty._

"_What's the biggest surprise you've ever gotten?"_

_Kitty smiled and started to think, "Well…"_

"_The kids." Red answered for her._

_At her husband's words, Kitty's eyes widened and she sent a shocked with a hint of anger stare at him. However Hyde didn't capture the expression on his surrogate mother's face for too long; he was more curious to find out more on the story behind the words Red had said—he hurriedly swung the camera to film Red once again covered by the day's newspaper._

"_Kids?" Hyde questioned, "So both Forman and Laurie were unplanned?"_

_He was almost surprised with himself at not grossing out at the thought of his adopted parents…making babies. He guessed it had to deal with the fact that he was even more surprised to find out June and Ward hadn't been counting on Wally and the Beave coming so soon._

_Red nodded—never looking at the camera—"Yup."_

"_It's not that they were unplanned babies." Kitty began to explain, getting Hyde and the camera's attention again, "After all we had already been married for almost five years when we found out about Laurie. And Laurie was a year and a half when I was pregnant with Eric. They were never really unplanned they were just…"_

_Hyde could sense the struggle Kitty was having to find the correct word, so he decided to help out._

"_Mistakes?" he asked with a smirk._

"_No!" Kitty quickly argued, "No. No baby is ever a mistake Steven, especially if it made from love." She paused for a few seconds before shaking her head slightly, "No, Laurie and Eric were not mistakes or unplanned babies, they were just…surprise packages from heaven!" she finished with a bright Kitty smile._

"_They weren't surprise packages, Kitty. If they were I wouldn't have signed for them." Red grumped from behind his paper._

"_Red!" she scolded and then turned her attention back to Hyde and the video camera, "He's only kidding of course."_

"_But I guess he is right about them being the biggest surprises." Kitty went on, "Finding out we were going to have each of them was just like any other surprise. It was unexpected, it came as a shock, and in the end was very welcomed—even if it took some of us a little longer to warm up to the idea."_

_Hyde followed Kitty's gaze with camera and eventually landed back on Red. A few seconds past before Red felt eyes upon him and looked up with a deep scowl indented on his forehead. It was a round that same time that Hyde started to put two and two together._

"_Wait a minute…" he began to say, "Red, you weren't excited when you found out Mom was gonna have Eric?_ Or_ Laurie?"_

_Red furiously glared back at the camera for several seconds before lifting his paper shield over his face again, "I'll answer that question when it's time for my video."_

"_Come on Red, that's not fair." Hyde almost whined, "Jackie's making your video it won't be done till the next millennium!"_

_Despite Hyde's protest, Red went back to reading and refused to answer the question. This caused Hyde to move the camera back to Kitty in hope of her getting Red to speak up or at least get the answer from her. But she only shook her head._

"_Now Steven, if Red wants to wait till his video to answer the question the you'll just have to wait till he and Jackie make his video." She firmly told him and the camera._

_And she had Hyde going until she mouthed out the words, 'I'll tell you when he's gone.'_

_0o0o0o_

"After you m'ladies." Eric said with a large grin as he held open the mall's glass door for Jackie and Betsy.

Both of the girls smiled. Betsy giggled laughing at how funny her Uncle Eric was talking; and Jackie smiled a 'thank you' smile in Eric's direction. She hadn't experienced the gentlemen gesture, with a man in her same age group, in a long, long time. It was nice.

The smiles on their faces—especially Jackie's—made the corners of Eric's own mouth to move upwards.

With the grin remaining in place, Eric followed the two ladies into the mall but when he stepped inside and saw the things inside the building he suddenly froze on the spot. This could not be the same mall he and his friends had once dubbed the 'Wannabe Price-Mart.'

This building looked so much bigger. There were stores that weren't there before. Stores that weren't just some rinky-dink stores that would last only about a year before another rinky-dink store replaced it; the Point Place Mall now had stores he had actually seen in Seattle.

There were more places to eat in the food court and quite a few of stands set up outside the stores, selling even more things. The place looked like an actual mall.

Eric followed Jackie as she held Betsy's hand and led them over to a…map? Since when did they have a map in here? Since when did you need a map for in here?

"Whoa." He finally managed to speak, still looking around the place, "This place looks great. Did they remodel it or something?"

Jackie smiled at the astonishment on Eric's face and she shook her head, "Nope. It's exactly the same building, they just took out and added a few different stores." She explained, "Sometimes it's not until you leave something and then come back to it years later, that you realize just how amazing it's been all along."

Nodding his head Eric captured her mismatched eyes with his green ones.

"You can say that again." He replied.

As she stared back at Eric, she could feel her cheeks redden, and she realized it had been quite some time since she had blushed just because a handsome man was looking at her. She placed her right hand over one cheek, hoping to hide it, but she knew it was too late when she saw Eric chuckle at her action.

"Aunt Jackie! Uncle Eric!" Betsy shouted breaking the eye-lock.

Each of the two looked away from the other and over to the little girl tugging at their arms—one of them more thankful for the interruption than the other.

"Come on, let's go to the toy store." She almost pleaded while practically jumping in place.

Jackie gave a small laugh at the sight, "Ok, ok Bets." She nodded, "Let's take a look at the map first…"

Of course Jackie Burkhart didn't need to look at any map. She knew this mall like the back of her hand; sure she hadn't been here lately with everything hat had been going on, but she could still tell you where the cleanest restrooms could be found and where the nearest trashcan could be located. She just thought looking at the map with her goddaughter would help the little girl figure out how close they were to the toy store.

"But I don't need a map." Betsy protested, the Kelso side of her starting to appear once again, "I can find it all by myself."

The statement earned a chuckle from Eric as he recalled all the previous times he'd heard those same words from the young girl's father. Each of those times usually ending in a disaster—usually getting lost.

From the look on Jackie's face, it seemed like she was thinking the same way he was.

"I don't know Betsy…" Jackie started to say before Eric jumped in.

"Come on Jackie, let Betsy take the lead." He suggested and the little girl grinned brightly, "She doesn't need a map. Every kid has some kind of magnet inside of them that only helps lead them to toy stores and ice cream parlors. She'll find the store in no time."

Jackie moved her eyes from Eric who smirking with confidence down to little Betsy who was looking up at her with big brown hopeful eyes.

She sighed exaggeratedly, "Fine. No Map. And you can lead us there."

"Yay!" the little girl cheered along with her uncle, and then jumped up a few inches in the air before slapping her tiny hand against Eric's larger one.

The interaction between the two brought a smile back onto Jackie's face and she had to hold back a laugh as she went on with what she had to say.

"But you have to stay close by to both of us. No wandering off, okay?"

Betsy eagerly nodded her head, "Okay!"

Not two seconds later, the little girl ran past Jackie ready to lead them to the nearest toy store. She only made it a few steps forward before she was face with making the choice of going either left or right. A silent debate went on for a few seconds and then Betsy took a few steps in the left direct only to quickly turn back around and head down the path to the right.

The two adults shared a laugh as they watched from just a few steps behind.

"It kinda nice to see the Kelso side in her come out." Eric shared out loud and Jackie laughed in agreement; he really did love that sound. "This was a good idea, bringing Betsy out of the house for a little fun."

Jackie nodded, "Yeah, I thought it would be good to just get out for awhile. And not just for Betsy." She paused for a second or two before to realized what she'd said and how inconsiderate it may have sounded. "Not that I mind taking care of your mom. I really have no problem being there…"

"Jackie, Jackie, I get it. Don't worry." He assured chuckling softly at how her nervousness had reminded him of himself—looked like he was rubbing off on her. "Believe me I get it. I wanna be there with Mom too but I can only handle seeing her like that for so long."

Again Jackie nodded, "It's really nice to get away from all the…drama."

"Yeah." He agreed, taking his turn to move his head up and down.

Then suddenly a thought entered his mind and he tried his best to not let a big goofy smile make its way onto his face.

"Hey you know what I just realized?" he asked her.

"What?" Jackie replied with a question while keeping her eyes on Betsy who was walking only a foot or two infront of them.

Eric couldn't hold it back any more and his grin broke out onto his lips, "We're out of the house."

Turning back to look at him, Jackie sent a puzzled expression his way, "You just noticed that?" she asked arching up her left eyebrow.

"Yeah…I mean no." Eric quickly answered before going on to explain in greater detail, just what he was getting at. "I just realized that we're both out of the house, right?"

She nodded, "Right."

"Because we both had some free time, right?" he asked and waited for her reply.

"Right."

"And neither of us planned on having this free time, it just sort of happened, right?"

"Right…" Jackie agreed again, still not quite sure what he was getting at.

A large smile quickly appeared on Eric's face, "So that mean we're on a date. Our first date!"

"Ri…wait what?" she asked stopping in her tracks with surprise in her voice and show on her face as she realized just what he'd said.

"We're on our first date." He repeated keeping his tone a happy one as he went on to explain, "Remember, last night we agreed that our first date would be when we both were free and neither one of us was gonna make the time happen. We were just gonna let it happen. And it has. You pretty much just agreed it has too."

Jackie wasn't sure what she should say. She was still stunned by the fact that Eric wanted this, a trip to the mall, to be their first date. Why was he in such a rush to have the date? Sure he'd seemed excited about it since they'd first made the plan but choosing their first outing together as their first date?

Maybe he'd changed his mind since last night and realized he'd made a huge mistake and wanted to get the date over and down with. Or maybe all he was interested was a 'wham bam thank you ma'am' kind of relationship that would end with her heartbroken and him back in Seattle in a couple of days.

Finally finding her voice Jackie spoke with a faint frown on her forehead, "Eric, just because we're out now doesn't mean we have to have our first date now."

"I know." Eric agreed with a nodded of his head, "But I want to."

It took almost all of Jackie's strength to hold back an eye roll. She felt so dumb for thinking Eric might not be like other guys.

"I don't know about you Jackie, but I've been feeling pretty anxious about the two of us going out." Eric continued to say, "And not the nervous kind of anxious. It's more like the excited kind of anxious. I can't wait to going out on a date with you Jackie…I don't wanna wait."

A feeling of guilt filled Jackie and she could help but crack a smile at how sweet and innocent looking Eric looked at the moment. She was just about to make a remark on his comment when she heard her name being called form a few feet away.

"Aunt Jackie! Aunt Jackie!" the tiny voice hollered.

Moving her eyes away from the grinning tall man, Jackie looked down the mall, two stores down, and soon saw little Betsy Kelso hopping and pointing outside of a 'K B Toys.'

"I found it! I told you I'd find it!" she announced sounding more and more like her father.

Jackie nodded to the little girl, "Ok sweetie, wait for me and your Uncle Eric. Hold on just a second." After seeing her goddaughter nod she looked back at Eric whose smile was still frozen on his lips. "What are we gonna do about Betsy?"

"Nothing." He replied with a slight shrug, "She can stay with us…she'll be like our chaperone. A really young and tiny chaperone." He said realizing how that didn't exactly sound like a convincing argument, but at the same time it really did make perfect sense. "She'll keep us from doing anything too _risky_, and I think that's really the biggest role of a chaperone."

A giggle escaped Jackie's lips and Eric started to relax—it looked like things were going to go his way.

"You know," Jackie began to say, "I've never had a first date in a toy story."

"I'll make it worth your while." Eric responded smugly as he wiggled his eyebrows slightly.

Jackie returned the smile, "Alright Forman, let's see what you've got."

And with that Jackie officially started their first date by lacing her right arm through his left and then together the two of them made their way to Betsy and the toy store.

0o0o0o

Red Forman sat on the yellow couch in his living room watching TV…well staring might be a better way to describe what he was doing. After all his eyes were on the screen but he had no idea what was going on in the show.

He'd spent the whole morning upstairs with Kitty and had only come down here about half an hour ago when the kid's dumbass 'shift plan' had gone into action. First up were the kettle head and wife. Of course Red really had no problem with Brooke but the problems he had with Kelso went on into a very long list.

At the beginning of the Kelso' visit Red had sat silently in another one of the arm chairs that had been brought up to the bedroom, just listening in on the conversation while pretending to read the paper.

But the couple hadn't been in the room for ten minutes when a migraine started to form in Red's head and he started to fight back to urge to kick the kettle head in the ass and out of the room. The only reason he hadn't was because he saw how much Kitty seemed to be enjoying the visit. Maybe this 'shift's plan' wasn't a complete dumbass idea.

Still his wife could see the aggravation in his face and suggest that he go down stairs for awhile. Red had argued against it for several minutes before giving in only because if he left Brooke would also be in the room with Kitty and not just Kelso. After all never for what ever reason would Red leave his ill wife alone with Michael Kelso.

At first he'd planned on going back out to the garage and working on the Vista Cruiser—he could swear he was close to getting tat thing started—but he wanted to be close by incase Kitty needed him. And so that's how he found himself now 'watching' an old episode of Gilligan's Island. Not that you really need to watch the program to know what was happening, it was always the same thing in Red's eyes: Professor thinks there's a way off the island, Dumbass Gilligan does something stupid, and they're still stuck on the island.

The deep silence, excluding the television set, was suddenly broken when the sound of the front doorbell ringing through the air.

Red stay completely immobilized. There were four dumbasses in the house one of them had to have heard it and they'd be up hear to answer the door. The person on the other side of the door pressed the button once again and Red sighed realizing he was both right and wrong. There were four dumbasses in the house, but because they were dumbasses they wouldn't come and answer the door.

He groaned loudly as he stood up from the sofa and dragged his feet to the front door as the door bell rang for the third time. He was in no mood to see anyone.

"What do you want?" came his greeting as he pulled open the wooden door.

Not a second after he'd opened the door two arms went around his neck and the person began to cry on his shoulder. It had happened all so quickly Red had barely gotten the chance to recognize the visitor.

"Paula?" he asked the crying woman who was his sister-in-law, "What are you doing here?"

The dark haired woman pulled out of the embrace but continued to dab her eyes with her tissue, "What do you mean what am I doing here? I'm here to see Kitty."

Normally Red would have rolled his eyes at such an obvious answer but now the only thing he could think about was finding out how Paula had found out.

"But how did you…"

"Your brother Marty called me." Paula finished for him, already knowing the question, "He's such a sweet man. He called and told me everything he knew and I just got out here as fast as I could."

Red continued to frown as the woman infront of him continued to ramble on. This would have made perfect sense if he only knew who had called his brother.

"Oh it is just so terrible about what's happening Red. I still can't believe it." She went on, sounding very close to tears, "How are you doing? How's she? Can I go see her? She's in the bedroom right?"

Paula hurried up the living room stairs to see her sister, never waiting for a response to any of her questions. It didn't bother Red that she'd lead herself upstairs without letting him get a word in, he was almost thankful for it. It let him continued to try and figure out this mystery one and for all.

0o0o0o

"Just pick one."

"I can't…it's too hard."

"You should get the one you're gonna play with more."

Eric turned his head to face the little girl who had delivered the last comment; he smiled and shook his head while chuckling softly to himself.

"Oh Betsy, Betsy, Betsy. These are collectibles, you don't play with them." He informed as he lifted up the two action figure boxes in each of his hands, "Well actually you can…I don't. Ok actually I do, but not all the time."

Betsy giggled at the nervousness her uncle seemed to be displaying, while Jackie fought back her own laugh. She found the scene just as amusing as Betsy but didn't want Eric to know that, he may let it drag on and they'd already been in the same aisle for the past twenty minutes. Fifteen of those minutes had been spent watching Eric go back and forth between the Han Solo action figure in his left hand and the Luke Skywalker in his right.

"Eric, come on." Jackie urged, "This trip to the toy store was for Betsy to get new toys remember?"

"Oh yeah, year I know. I'm going. I just…" he whipped his head back and forth between the two toys, and then swiftly looked up at Jackie, "Alright you choose Jackie. And whichever you pick I'll get."

Agreeing that it was a good idea Jackie nodded her head, "Get Luke." She replied not three seconds later.

"Right Eric nodded his head and started to put the Han Solo doll back on the shelf only to retract it back to him, "But I already have four different Luke Sky Walkers and only three of Han Solo."

"Then get Han Solo." Jackie instructed, fighting back the urge to sigh a frustrated sigh.

"Right." He repeated before repeating his action all the way to pulling the Luke Skywalker toy away from the shelf and back to him, "But Luke Skywalker's my favorite."

Taking advantage at the fact that Eric's eyes were on the two 'collectables' Jackie exchanged a look with her little goddaughter who was standing beside her. The little girl hadn't taken this long when she picked out what toys she wanted.

Her choices had been a new dress for the doll Kitty had given her earlier in the week and with the suggestion of both adults, the classic game _Hungry Hungry Hippos. _They thought it would help keep her entrained and get the others in the house playing with her as well, while Betsy just thought the game looked fun and had already called the Pink Hippo for eternity.

However these two toys had been the gifts that would be from her Uncle Eric. The trio had yet to enter the Barbie aisle so that she could pick out what she wanted her Aunt Jackie to buy her. And to Jackie that sounded like the perfect escape from this episode of _Eric's Choice_.

"Alright Eric, while you try to decide which doll you want to buy, I'm gonna walk around with Betsy so she can decide what she wants me to get her." She informed before clasping her slim hand with Betsy's tinier one.

Eric's head popped up at hearing Jackie's words, but by the time he looked in her direction he saw that she and Betsy were already at the end of the Action Figure aisle and turning into the next one. Right away he felt a pang of guilt. This wasn't how he wanted his first date with Jackie to go. He wanted to curse both toys and Star Wars all together, but found he really didn't have the heart to do it.

So instead he looked back at the two toys and quickly came up with a logical solution that he was actually surprised he hadn't come up with earlier. Happy with his decision he followed the footsteps of his date and chaperon.

Just two aisles down, in a aisle of much girly-er and pinker toys, Jackie let her eyes scan over the various different dolls. It seemed like they had a Barbie doll for every event!

As Jackie took her time to look at the dolls, it only took Betsy a few seconds to find the doll that was for her. This time around anyways. Grabbing the pink box off the shelf, the little girl scurried over to her godmother to show her the new toy she wanted.

"I found the perfect Barbie!" she shared happily and then turned the box over so that Jackie could see it's contents, "Funtime Barbie!"

Jackie smiled largely, "She's very pretty."

"Yeah, and she even comes with a matching watch for me too!" Betsy practically shouted.

"Wow." Jackie said still smiling as she examined Betsy's choice of Barbie, "But you know as pretty as Funtime Barbie looks right now, don't you think she could use a few more outfits too?"

The famous Kelso grin grew on Betsy's face and nodded, "Uh…yeah!"

A small laugh escaped from Jackie as she saw Betsy's happiness when she rushed over to the nearby wall that held the smaller pink boxes holding various outfits made just for Barbie.

It was that scene that welcomed Eric when he caught up to the two girls and it caused his own smile to appear on his lips.

"Wow you're like Betsy's own Fairy Godmother but without the magic wand." He teased getting Jackie to turn around to face him.

"Oh I've got a magic wand." She replied with a playful smile before she tug into her purse for a few seconds before coming back out with a slim piece of plastic in her hands. "It's made out in Steven's name but it gets Betsy whatever she wants and that's all that matters."

Laughing and nodding agreement Eric decided it was time to apologize and he cleared his throat before beginning to speak.

"Uh Jackie listen…I'm sorry about what happened back in that other aisle." He started to say, "That's not how I wanted our first date to go. Believe em I didn't plan on it going that way either. I want us to have a good time, talk, learn more about each other. It's just when I saw all those _Star Wars __collectibles,_ I just…I…"

"Forgot about everything else." She finished for him.

"Yes." Eric nodded only to realize that wasn't at all what he'd meant to say, rapidly he shook his head back and forth, "No. I mean yes I did but I didn't mean to I mean…"

Before Eric went completely twitchy on her Jackie jumped in to interrupt and help him find his words and ease his nerves.

"Eric, relax. It's ok, I understand. Really. You just had a moment of weakness. Everyone had them, especially guys. Fez's weakness is candy. Michael's is…"she paused and took a moment to review her ex-boyfriends habits, "Well Michael has many weaknesses ranging from fire to boobs. And your weakness is _Star Wars_ _dolls_. You really have nothing to worry about. I'm the exact same way."

Eric's eyes widened and both his eyebrows rose with surprise. Did a hot girl actually like _Star Wars_ collectable too? And not just any hot girl but Jackie?

"Really?" he asked sounding almost too hopeful.

"Yes. But not with anything that deals with _Star Wars_." She informed as if reading his mind.

Eric's grin fell in disappointment until another thought entered his mind and he quickly put his facial muscles to work again. However, Jackie saw this and while she didn't enjoy making that loveable smile of his disappear she had to set him strait.

"Or anything else that has to do with anything in space."

Again Eric's smile faded away and the look on his face resembled a small child who'd found the cookie jar, opened it only to find there were none of the cookies they loved so much in it.

Though just because his favorite cookie wasn't inside the cookie jar didn't mean Eric wasn't going to take sometime to give these other cookies a chance.

"So then Miss. Burkhart, what is your weakness?" he questioned

Jackie smiled as she replied, "Shoes."

"Well that sounds…" Eric suddenly drifted off and pretended to fall asleep—including making the loud snoring noises.

Not being able to hold back Jackie let out a giggle as she shoved Eric's shoulder with her hand. At the nudge Eric reopened his eyes and joined in on the laughter.

"Very funny." She mocked with her grin still in place, "But we went through your weakness on this first date so for our second date it's my turn and we're going shoe shopping!"

When Eric first heard what Jackie had said he just about frowned and groaned in pain. Shoe shopping? That wasn't fair. Toy stores were fun, shoe shopping was not. However before he decided to react to Jackie's words he understood just what she had and it made him very happy. Minus the shoe shopping part.

"Our first date isn't even over and already you're talking about our second one?" Eric asked with a smug smirk, "I think that's a good sign."

Jackie feel the heat starting to build up on her cheeks again. She moved her hand up to cover them but lucky for her the little chaperon stepped in with an arm full of the items that she would soon be able to call hers.

"Aunt Jackie," Betsy called stepping closer to the two, "I can't pick which dress I should get for Barbie. Will you help me?"

Jackie looked down at her goddaughter and saw the two slimmer pink boxes of Barbie clothes that she was talking about.

"Well I'd love to Betsy, but why don't you ask your Uncle Eric? He's a boy and knows what girls look pretty in." she said smiling looking at both Betsy's smiling face and Eric's shocked one.

The young girl eagerly nodded, "Ok." She turned to her uncle and lifted the outfits for him to see, "Uncle Eric, which one will Barbie look pretty in?"

Eric shifted his gaze from the pink box that held a bright blue dress with a hot pink belt matching blue shoes and hand bag to the box with a yellow sundress with white polka dots a yellow sunhat and shoes, and then back again. He didn't know what to say. Maybe if he tried to picture Jackie in both dresses and tried to see which dress she looked best in…though that might not work all too well. Jackie could be wearing a potatoes sack and still look very pretty.

"Uh…the yellow one." He finally decided.

One his choice had been made both Jackie and Betsy looked at each other as if sharing a conversation that only girls were apart of. Then they next thing Eric knew was Betsy had put back the yellow dress on the shelf and kept the blue one in her hand.

"I'll go with the blue one then."

With a puzzled frown on his face Eric looked over to Jackie to see her giggling behind her hand. Now it made sense.

"You told her to do that didn't you?" he asked pointing his finger at her.

It took her a few seconds but Jackie finally managed to control her giggles and keep a straight face as she looked back at Eric.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said in a serious tone before looking at Betsy, "Ready to go home now?"

"Yup!" Betsy shouted, surprising both Jackie and Eric somewhat. What kid was excited to leave a toy store?

"I can't wait to go home and beat Uncle Fez at Hungry Hungry Hippos!" the youngest Kelso went on to say happily before rushing over to the register line.

Jackie turned around to Eric, "Come on, we better get going."

"Nah ah." He said before reaching out and grabbing a hold of her hand to hold her back, "I saw what you did. Casually changing the subject by using an innocent little girl. Well played Beulah, but not well enough. Now back to our second date, so far we've got shoe shopping and me wearing my Spiderman boxers…"

"Oh my God." Jackie suddenly said interrupting Eric from going on.

He furrowed his brow just slightly before shrugging his shoulders, "Yeah, I know. I've kinda been over doing it with the whole Spiderman underwear…"

"No. Not that." She said shaking her head, her eyes fixed on something that was far off and in front of her. "That." She finished as she pointed her finger in the direction her eyes were looking.

Still not seeing what she was talking about Eric moved his eyes and head around the store trying to find the thing that had caught her Jackie attention. But this was a toy store full of toys and people. Anything could have caught her eyes.

"What?"

"That." She replied in an insisting tone, her index finger still raised in the air, "In the doll case."

Eric moved his eyes back to one of them sections of the store that he'd let his eyes merely skim over. It was a glass showcase with at least four different baby dolls that seemed to be from years ago.

"The one in the blue dress." Jackie added helping Eric see what doll she was so captivated, "That's Darling Daisy."

There was only one doll wearing a blue dress. She had dark brown wavy hair that was pulled back with a matching powder blue bow. Her shoes were white with matching little girl socks. She had sparkling green eyes and her pink lips made a perfect little heart.

"Oh yeah right." He nodded his head, "Yeah those things always scared me too."

Jackie snapped her head away from the doll and back to Eric, as deep frown indented on her forehead, "She is not scary! She's beautiful."

Eric wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to say, the doll looked like any ordinary doll to him. So he stayed quiet and just let Jackie do the talking.

"She's one of the dolls that I always wanted but never got." She shared, her eyes back on the baby doll.

Quietly Eric scoffed, but not as softly as he thought he had. Jackie heard his cough like noise and arched her left eyebrow.

"Is that scoff supposed to mean something?" she questioned crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm sorry Jackie." he apologized sincerely. "I know I never went into your room when we younger but from what I head from Donna and Kelso you had a lot of dolls, unicorns, and Donny Osmond posters. I'm finding it a little hard to believe that this was the one doll you wanted but never got."

"First of all it was not just Donny Osmond." Jackie argued, "Marie was in some of them too. And it's true. I never got Darling Daisy because my dad never bought it for me."

Eric was still feeling confused, "But he bought you every other doll?"

"No…" she exhaled quickly before deciding to tell the story, "Look Eric my parents bought me things a little differently than they way your parents probably did. They didn't bring me to the store help me pick what I wanted, they didn't stand in lien with me to pay for it, they didn't even know I had gotten the toy until about a week later."

"All they would so was, Daddy would give the money to my nanny who would take me to the toy store and buy it for me with the money Daddy gave her." She went on, "So Daddy did buy it for me but he didn't buy it for me…does that make sense?"

"No." Eric answered honestly, "Why couldn't you have just gotten this Daring Daisy they way you'd gotten the other dolls?"

"Because Darling Daisy was different." Jackie explained, "I wanted it to be like in the commercial when the dad gave her to his daughter. They were both smiling and happy. Darling Daisy has to be given to you by someone you love and loves you, not just some nanny."

Looking back at the baby doll Eric suddenly recognized it as a doll his own sister had gotten one Christmas. An dif Laurie had gotten the doll—that she probably only played with for a couple of months—Jackie surely deserved it too. He moved his eyes away from the doll and over to the items in his hand—he'd gone with both Luke and Han, just like any true fan would do.

"Aunt Jackie!"

The two adults looked over to where the voice was coming from and saw Betsy was now standing in the part of the line that would be next to the register.

The brunette smiled and reached into her purse for Steven's credit card, "Looks like it's times to put this magic wand to work."

"Right." Eric replied with a nod of his head and then took notice of what had just happened; his boyish grin grew, "Hey, I just learned something about you that I didn't know before!"

Jackie smiled at is excitement and it became bigger in size when she realized how right he was, "Huh, what do you know. I guess this date at the toy store really wasn't too bad."

"You know Jackie, it doesn't have to end yet." Eric commented, "We could make this 'toy store first date' into a 'mall first date.' We could shop some more, maybe go to the food court get some lunch…"

"I'd like that."

The couple shared a smile that was soon interpreted by another call form the mini-chaperone.

"Aunt Jackie!"

"I'll be right there, Bets." Jackie replied and headed over to the line but not before looking back at Eric, "Just make sure where ever we go for lunch has a kid's menu."

0o0o0o

Upstairs in the Forman's bedroom Kitty laid in bed as she caught up with her younger sister who had dropped by unexpectedly.

When Paula had first come into the room interrupting Kitty's visit with Brooke and Kelso, Kitty had been beyond surprise to see her here. Though the two sisters had kept in touch, especially during the time that Kitty's cancer had started, Kitty hadn't called to tell her anything about the current situation. She was almost tempted to call up her husband and children to find out who'd been the one to inform Paula, but after the first few minutes of talking with her sister she realized she really didn't care who had made the call. And if she did find out who it had been she'd only thank the person.

For the past hour and a half had Paula sat on the foot of her sister's bed as the two talked about various things. How Paula's exciting career and life were going. Other family members. Even celebrities. They talked about just about every topic except the most obvious and most painful.

At the moment the two were both laughing and giggling as they recalled moments from their younger days.

"I was the wild one?" Kitty repeated Paula's words in question form, "You were the one who showed up to this house in a police car after being detained because of that protest you joined in because of that teacher man you were interested in!" she reminded and the two continued to laugh at the memory.

"What was that protest against anyways?"

Paula stopped her giggling and looked her sister in eyes, "Kitty, I didn't know then and I don't know now." She answered causing another fit of giggles, "But I do remember that Tim had a great pair of dreamy blue eyes!"

The two sisters continued to laugh for a few more minutes before Paula brought up another point. She raised her hand and wagged her index finger at her older sister as she spoke.

"I may have done some crazy things, but they were all done once we had moved out of Mom and Dad's." she reminded, "You were the one who drove the crazy when we were kids. Especially Mother!"

Kitty waved her hand at the last part of Paula's words, "Oh everything drove Mother crazy."

Agreeing with Kitty once more Paula nodded her head while she laughed along with the blonde.

"Do you remember the time she caught you and Red in that steamy kiss on the front porch?" Paula asked, "I thought she's was going to have a heart attack!"

Nodding her head rapidly Kitty laughed and managed to find her voice again.

"First off all, we were engaged at the time." She defended herself with a serious look on her face that last for about a second before her lips broke out into a smile, "Second. Why do you think we did it on the front porch where we knew she would see?"

Together the women burst out into another fit of giggles. However just as quickly as she had started laughing, Kitty suddenly stopped and a discomforted expression appeared on her face. Paula soon noticed how silent her sister had gotten.

Looking over at Kitty Paula saw her sister's eyes closed as she winced in pain and clutched onto the sheet that covered her. Seeing her older sister in pain broke Paula's heart and she reached over and grabbed Kitty's left hand.

"Kitty, are you ok?" she asked softly, "Do you need me to get Red?"

Kitty shook her head and kept her eyes closed for a few more second before reopening them and trying her best to not show how much pain she really was feeling. It wasn't just the physical pain that the cancer was causing her it was the pain in her heart as well. It seemed like each time she started to enjoy herself and laugh a little the pain from the cancer would start back up and ruin everything.

"No. It's ok." She tried to assure, "I'm fine, really."

Paula gave a small smile and gently squeezed Kitty's hand, "I'm afraid I have to get going."

"Oh no don't." Kitty began to say holding on to her sister's hand and attempting to ignore the painful pain and feeling of nauseas that was starting. "'m really feeling fine, Paula. You don't have to go."

"I know." Paula nodded and could already feel her throat getting tight, she really didn't want to leave, "But I really do have to leave. I wish I could stay longer but I could only get a few days off and I have to drive back…"

Kitty nodded understandingly and gave the slightest smile, "Do you still have that pretty pink car of yours?"

"Only the top _Kathy May_ salespersons gets one." She stated with a smile, "And that's still me."

Paula's response made Kitty smile, "Good. You've gotta keep working to keep that car."

It was Paula's turn to nodded as she smiled a tight smile and continued to hold onto Kitty's hand.

"Thank you so much for coming Paula." Kitty said in a sincere tone of voice.

Paula could feel the tears forming in her eyes, "I wouldn't be anywhere else." She replied honestly before leaning in and giving her sister one more hug.

It was several seconds before the embrace was brought to an end and by the time it had both women were on the verge of tears. And still neither one of them did break down, each wanted to be strong for the other.

"I love you, Kitty."

Kitty smiled back, "I love you too, Paula."

There was another hug and a kisses on the cheeks before Paula stood up off Kitty's bed and headed for the bedroom door.

Before exiting, Paula turned back around, "I'll call you ok honey?"

"Ok, sweetie."

One more wave and then Paula was out of the room closing the door behind her.

On one side of the door, as soon as Paula was in the hallway Kitty clenched her fists and scrunched her face in pain as she rolled onto her side. She quickly moved her hand around the on the night stand trying desperately to grab the button that would help dispense the morphine and aid with her pain.

Out in the hallway on the other side of the bedroom door, the second she was safely out of the room Paula covered her mouth to muffle out a sob.

She had really thought that's she'd prepared herself to see Kitty by thinking and expecting the worst, but she hadn't been expecting something like this. They had been talking and laughing one minute and the next Kitty was in pain and trying to make it seem like she really wasn't. And just knowing that Kitty was actually in pain and that this could be the last time she saw Kitty…Paula was really quite surprised that she was able to hold back the tears for this long.

"Paula?"

Hearing her name Paula looked up and saw her sister's husband and adopted son making their way towards her.

Red had a look of worry and as he walked closer Paula could see the slight panic in it as well.

"What's wrong? What happened?" he began to question, "Is Kitty…"

Paula raised her waving hand to stop her brother-in-law's rambling, "She's fine Red." She replied managing a small smile, "Well she is in some pain but she's saying she's fine. Very stubborn that one. Must have picked it up from being married to you for so long."

Hyde got a quick chuckle out of Paula's word along with the frown of annoyance Red had sent her way.

"Are you leaving already?" Hyde asked.

Though he knew the house was already full he slightly hoped Kitty's sister would stay a little longer. It wasn't that he so much liked her—he did, but then again he really barely knew her—it was the fact that she had started to brighten up the house abit. She hadn't caused any drama in the short amount of time she'd been here. And Hyde could hear Kitty's laughter all the way downstairs when Paula was with her.

_That_ was why he hoped she'd stay.

"I'm afraid so dears." Paula nodded sadly, "Being top Kathy May salesperson, I have to work quite abit…and I've already used up most of my vacation days. But I wanted to make sure I came to see her and that I'd still have a day off to…come to the…funeral."

Hyde looked down at his feet, he still couldn't connect the two words Kitty and funeral together. Red meanwhile gave a simple nod to the dark haired woman infront of him.

Paula sniffled and continued to look at Red, "You'll take care of my sister, right Red?"

She wasn't exactly sure why'd she'd asked, she knew he would. Red loved Kitty and Kitty loved him. The relationship the two of them had was one of the things Kitty had and Paula was slightly jealous of.

Again Red gave another nod.

"Yeah, that's really the one thing you don't have to worry about." Hyde stated from the sidelines.

Paula smiled at the young man and Hyde returned the smile with a smirk.

Red cleared his throat, "Uh Steven, why don't you walk Paula out and I'll go check on Kitty?"

"Yeah." Hyde nodded, "Ok."

Before she followed Hyde to the staircase Paula turned around and gave her brother-in-law another tight hug.

"I'll call." She said pulling out of the embrace, "Everyday."

Red only smiled and raised up a hand to wave Paula off. Then the second Paula disappeared down the stairway, Red dropped his fake smile into a true scowl.

"Terrific." He mumbled before opening his bedroom door to check on Kitty.

0o0o0o

Later that day, getting into the evening, the orange Toyota slowly pulled up into the icy driveway.

Eric turned off his father's old car and turned to face the tiny woman who was sitting shot gun.

"So…"he began, "Guess our dates over now."

Jackie smiled, "Guess so."

"I had fun. Did you?"

"Very much." She nodded her smile in place and her eyes twinkling.

"Great!" Eric practically exclaimed earning him a giggle from Jackie before he cleared his throat, "Um you know…usually at the end of the date there's an I don't know…a little kiss…"

"Ok!" a voice exclaimed.

But not the voice he had hoped for.

The next thing Eric knew his cheek was being given a quick little kiss from Betsy—who'd unbuckled her seatbelt sometime earlier. At first Eric's face showed shock and some disappointment but not wanting to hurt the little girls feelings he gave a small smile. Meanwhile Jackie was doing her best not laugh about loud and settled on another girlish giggle.

After giving her uncle his kiss Betsy turned to her godmother, "Can we go inside now?"

"Sure, Bets." Jackie replied with a smile and then opened her door and stepped out into the cold.

Eric watched her actions with his eyes widened just ever so much. Why was she getting out of the car too? He hadn't gotten his goodnight kiss! Maybe she was coming back…

"Jackie?" he called out to her.

The brunette sent a smile his way, "I have to help Betsy out of the car."

Eric only nodded hoping and wishing that she was going to let Betsy out of the car and then climb back in. The hope of Jackie coming back and joining Eric in the car were soon brought to an end when he saw her walk over to patio doors.

Not wanting to be out in the old, old Toyota by himself, Eric scurried out of the vehicle and made his way to his parent's house. If he couldn't have a good night kiss in the car, the back porch was the next best thing!

By the time Eric made it to the patio, both Jackie and Betsy were already inside the kitchen taking off their coats. He decided to join them and entered the room just as Betsy and her armful of gifts ran down into the basement.

"Hey Jackie," he said getting her attention to turn to him, "About our shoe shopping second date…" he started to say, "I say we leave our little chaperone behind for that one."

Jackie gave another laugh as she took off her knit hat and placed it on the table, "ok. But you'll have to break it to her."

"Ok." Eric agreed as he saw a way to get a deal from her too, "But I have to get that end of the night kiss now."

"But you already did. From Betsy, remember?" she innocently asked as she titled her head just slightly.

Eric shook his head and stepped closer to Jackie, "I want one from you."

"Eric did it ever occur to you that maybe I didn't give you a goodnight kiss because I don't want the night between the two of us to be over just yet?" Jackie asked in a shyly voice and matching smile.

Immediately Eric felt a flutter in his stomach. He stared at Jackie's beautiful mismatched yes, her beautiful pink lips stretched out into the most beautiful smile…he had to kiss her. But he couldn't. It could end their night. But he wanted to so bad…but he couldn't!

This internal argument continued on for several more seconds inside Eric and just when one side of the argument was about to win, there were footsteps heard coming up from the basement.

"Hey Jackie." a Zen voice called out and the couple looked over to see Hyde making his way towards them.

"Betsy just came down and showed us all the things you bought her. She said something about a magic wand." He explained and then stuck his open palm towards Jackie, "Can I have my card back now?"

With a roll of her eyes Jackie stuck her hand into her purse and retrieved her 'magic wand' and then slapped it into her ex-boyfriend's hand.

"Whatever." She managed to mumble in her own Zen fashion.

Hyde stuck the card in his back pocket, "Yeah, whatever." He said in a equal or greater Zen.

Eric watched the scene infront of him and knew that something had to be done. After all before he'd come back Hyde and Jackie had been close…sure they weren't bestest buddies but they were civil and kind and unzen to each other.

When he saw Hyde start to walk away and back to the basement Eric decided to step in. Even if it meant him not getting his goodnight kiss just yet, which was actually a good thing.

"Uh Hyde, anything interesting happen here today?" he asked and luckily Hyde stopped his journey to the basement and turned around.

"Uh yeah…your Aunt Paula came by."

"Aunt Paula's here?" Eric asked excitedly, he really hadn't seen that coming, "That means we each get ten dollars! Where is she?"

Hyde shook his head, holding back a laugh and the fact that Paula had given him ten dollars, "She left already, man. She was only here for a couple of hours."

"How did she find out about Mom?" Jackie asked, remaining Zen as she spoke to Hyde.

"Turns out Marty called her." He informed, "Guess that phone call you made came in handy."

With that said Hyde didn't feel like talking anymore. He really didn't have too much to say especially with Jackie in the room…well he did but not too many of the things were too nice and Red was in the house and Jackie was his favorite. Hyde didn't want to take the chance. He turned back to the basement and descend down into the lower level of the house.

Eric and Jackie looked at each other. Both of them smiling smiles of approval before beginning to speak. At the same time.

"When did you call Uncle Marty?" they both asked together.

At about the same time a frown appeared on each of their foreheads, "I didn't call Uncle Marty. I thought you did."

"I didn't."

Getting frustrated with the shadow-like game, Jackie stepped forward and grabbed the sides of Eric's face before pulling him closer to her. Their lips touched only for a few seconds but Eric couldn't think of anything that felt more like heaven….except maybe those other kisses they'd shared.

Slowly Jackie pulled away, "Just so you know that was a 'shut up' kiss not a goodnight kiss." She stated before turning serious once more, "Now, did you call your Uncle Mart or not?"

"No." Eric shook his head, "I haven't even seen the guy in years. You didn't call him?"

"No. I barely even knew you had an Uncle Marty."

"Well it couldn't have been Hyde since he said, 'the phone call you made'…maybe it was Dad." Eric suggested

Jackie shook her head 'no.' "Steven already asked and he said he hadn't either. Mom was the one who asked Steven in the beginning so it's not her."

The detective in Eric began to come out as he got more and more details on the case.

"Ok, so if Mom, Dad, and Hyde didn't call Uncle Marty…" he began to recap, "And you didn't call Uncle Marty. And I didn't call Uncle Marty….Who did?"

"I did."

At the sound of a new voice, Eric and Jackie turned their heads to the sliding glass door and saw a sight they had defiantly not been ready for.

Standing at the back entrance of the kitchen was Laurie Forman.

Or at least some one who looked like her in some way but in other ways didn't, She physically looked like the daughter of Red and Kitty who hadn't been heard from in almost six years. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, the same voice. However there was no evil smile nor was she wearing any skimpy short shorts. Instead she wore an almost frightened expression and dress appropriately in jeans and a nice clue blouse under her brown coat.

The biggest surprise of all though wasn't so big. It was a little girl Laurie had resting on her hip. She looked no more than five and was almost the exact replica of Laurie. She had the same facial features and the same blonde hair. But when Jackie took a closer look she noticed the little girl's eyes weren't blue. Instead they were a darker color that she felt like she'd seen before.

Eric looked at his older sister blinking his eyes rapidly as if making sure he were actually seeing what he was seeing.

The stillness of the kitchen was soon brought to an ended as Jackie gasped and covered her mouth. The little girls eyes were brown a puppy dog, chocolate pudding brown. She knew whose eyes those were.

* * *

_**Author's Note:**__ There you go! Chapter 31 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_What will happen now that Laurie's home? Will her parents be happy to see her? Is the little girl her daughter? Whose eyes does she have? Will thing between Hyde and Jackie ever get better? When will Randy return? Will we see Aunt Paula again? And will Eric get that goodnight kiss from Jackie any time soon? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care and have a nice day!_


	33. I'm More Than Ok

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hi there everyone! So sorry for the late update! I broke my USB over the weekend and the story was in it. Luckily it's not completely broken so I managed to get my files out and stuff but with no USB it made it harder for me to work on the story anywhere else but my dinosaur computer. Hopefully I'll be going to the store today to get a new one…though I will miss my old one last me two years and then one morning I dropped my computer while it was still in it and it bent in a way USB's should not bend. Also sorry for the shorter chapter, as compared to the ones I'd previously been posting, but if it were longer there's be no update this week and would probably total to being 16,000 some words. Next week I'm trying my bestest to update as well so keep your fingers crossed. Um please also remember that I am not a doctor nor am I learning to be one…I did buy a ball that is similar to the one House has on the show and it makes me feel alittle like House but that's not really the same thing…Thank you so much for the reviews, I am so glad you guys are still reading and enjoying the story it really means so much! Anywoo I wanna try to take a nap before class so I don't take a nap during class…Enjoy!_

* * *

"_Regrets?" Kitty repeated while looking at the camera._

"_Yeah." Hyde nodded, "Do you have any?"_

"_Yes, I suppose I do have a few…everyone has some sort of regrets Steven."_

"_What are some of yours?" he asked._

_Kitty was silent as she thought over her adoptive son's question and how the right way to answer it would be. After taking a few seconds to ponder, she looked up over at the camera and smiled weakly._

"_Well first of all, I regret that I didn't take better care of myself." She shared, "Most of this whole cancer thing could have been avoided if I hadn't smoked or drank so much."_

_Hyde nodded behind the camera again—not getting her to ease up on those two things was one of his own regrets. _

_He cleared his throat, "Anything else you wanna share?"_

"_I regret," Kitty paused to take in a deep breath, "I regret that I won't be around to see you kids grow up, get married, start your families…and most importantly I won't be around to ask you all these questions you've been asking me when your old and sick."_

_Hyde didn't expected what happened next to happen. One minute he was filming Kitty as she smiled and talked to the camera, the next he was filming her stand up and walking over to him, and in the next second he'd not only lost control of the camera but the camera itself._

_The star of the video had now become the director as she stayed behind the camera and now had the lens pointed at Hyde—finally getting a shot of the curly haired rebel._

_Less than thrilled at the fact that the camera was now on him—and he wasn't wearing his famous shades—Hyde tried to avoid eye contact with the video camera. However that didn't stop Kitty or cause her to give him back the camera._

"_Oh, this is going to be fun." She said from behind the camera before letting out a laugh._

_0o0o0o_

A good few seconds—that felt more like days—had passed and still those in the Forman kitchen remained in their speechless state.

Three of them just stared at the other. Laurie looked at her brother as he stared back at her—his mouth gaping open. Jackie meanwhile seemed to be only one moving her eyes, though they didn't move a great distance; her gaze went from the little girl to Laurie and then back and forth.

Laurie waited for some sort of reaction—that included actual words—from Eric, but he seemed to be taking too long and it was really starting to annoy her. It wasn't that neither Jackie nor Eric didn't have anything to say to Laurie, their minds were overflowing with questions. The trouble was, with so many questions they seemed to have forgotten how to make out words.

"La…Laurie?" Eric finally managed to make out, still not believing that his vanishing act sister was standing in front of him, with a kid in her arms no less.

The blonde woman smiled back weakly, "Hi, Little Brother."

"Laurie…is that really you?" he asked resisting the urge to wave his hand and see if it ran through her.

"No." she replied, now sounding more like the Laurie he grew up with, "I'm a figment of your imagination."

Slightly thankful to see the old Laurie back, Eric seemed to snap out of his shocked state and was at last able to ask some of the questions he had running through his brain.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, not sure why he'd chosen that one as his first.

"I'm here to see Mom." Laurie answered using her softer voice once more before changing it back to one that sounded more annoyed—more Laurie like, "If you're gonna continue with your twenty questions game, can I at least sit down?"

Shaking himself again as he heard and processed his sisters question, Eric now made himself able to move again.

He nodded his head and gestured to the old kitchen table, "Yeah, right sure. Sit…sit down."

Not having to be told again Laurie took a few steps farther in the kitchen before sitting down in the kitchen seat she hadn't sat in or seen since the late 70's. She made sure the little girl in her arms was comfortable before getting comfortable herself. Watching her brother shakily take a seat across from her she resisted the urge to roll her eyes again, he really hadn't changed much since she last saw him.

Eric watched his sister and couldn't help the next wave of shock wash over him. It had been almost ten years since he'd seen or heard from her and now here she was. Sitting with him at the kitchen table like they'd done when they were kids, however this time around they were silent as they sat instead of arguing like cats and dogs, and now she had a kid in her lap!

He struggled for his next question. He wanted to know so many things but just kept going back to the little blonde girl who was resting her head under his sister's neck.

Following where her brother's eyes were, Laurie sighed and gave him another irritated look that she was famous for.

"You're not gonna be able to do anything productive until you find who she is, are you?" she asked gesturing to the small girl.

When Eric didn't say anything or even move his head, Laurie knew she'd gotten her answer.

"Eric, this is Lucy." She introduced carefully moving the child abit so that they could get a better look at each other. After introducing Eric to the little girl, she changed her tone a voice into a sweeter more innocent one—one that Eric thought sounded similar to the one she'd use with their father—as she talked Lucy, "Lucy, sweetie, this is your Uncle Eric."

There it was. She'd just confirmed it herself. This little girl was her daughter. But who was the father?

The little girl kept her brown eyes on the man who her mother said was her Uncle Eric, whom she had heard stories about.

Eric smiled and gently grabbed the small girls hand—even if she was his sister's kid, he had a soft spot for kids, "Hi, Lucy. It's really nice meeting you. You're very pretty."

Feeling very shy Lucy quickly scooted closer to her mother cuddling closer to her and showing Eric how attached she was to his sister who calmly rubbed the girl's back. His sister really was a mom and from the looks of it a really good one too.

"Laurie…" he began not knowing how better to say it than just coming out and asking, "Who's her father?"

"Why don't you ask Kelso's girlfriend over there." Laurie suggested, moving her eyes from Eric to Jackie who remained standing in the same spot since Laurie had first walked in, "She figured it out almost five minutes ago."

Noticing that the blonde's eyes were now on her and after replaying what she had heard been said, Jackie broke away from her trance and opened her mouth to correct Laurie. However she never got the chance to, someone else had stepped in.

"She's not Kelso's girl friend." Eric firmly informed as if defending Jackie from his sister, "They haven't dated in years..."

Surprised and touched by Eric's words and how he'd said them, Jackie sent a smile his way until she realized that Eric had pretty much opened a window for Laurie by telling her how she and Kelso weren't together. Sure, Laurie now had a kid but that didn't prove she still wasn't a man stealing whore and Jackie did not want what happened to her happening to Brooke.

Even though now she was pretty sure Kelso wouldn't fall for Laurie's tricks since he was married and still madly love with his bride. Still she felt the need to protect the little family.

"And he's married now, so don't even think about trying anything." The tiny brunette threatened.

"As if I really would, Jackie." Laurie scoffed, suddenly remembering Jackie's name, "And I know he's married. To that librarian girl…Brooke something. They've got a kid together."

Two scowls appeared on the two faces of Eric and Jackie.

Eric rapidly blinked his eyes, "How…how did you know that?"

"I have my ways." Laurie replied with a shrug.

Jackie shook her head; this was taking to long. She knew Laurie's sudden appearance was a surprise but there were so many questions and Eric was taking forever to come out with them. It was time she took charge of the situation. She walked over to the table and took a seat in the chair on Eric's left.

"Ok, Laurie you said you came here to see your mom." Jackie restated, "But how do you know what's going on? We've been trying to contact you and tell you about the cancer for over five years."

Before his sister could answer, Eric jumped in with his own thoughts.

"Yeah Laurie, what was that about?" he asked referring to how they'd lost contact with her, "Don't they have phones in Canada?"

Laurie frowned slightly, "I was never in Canada."

With a similar confused frown, Jackie looked back at the blonde, "Where were you?"

"Milwaukee."

"Milwaukee, Wisconsin?" Eric and Jackie asked simultaneously.

Laurie nodded as she ran her hand over her daughter's head, "That's the one."

Eric was just about outraged at this new information and Jackie felt so dumb at the fact that for these past years they had been looking for the woman everywhere else imaginable except Wisconsin.

"You were less than three hours away?" Eric loudly asked, "And you _never_ came to visit Mom?"

Tilting her head to the side just slightly, Laurie stared back at her younger brother. She knew that had been wrong but she had her reasons and besides she knew he hadn't been the perfect child during this whole cancer thing either.

"At least I didn't move across the nation to Seattle to keep away from having to deal with any of the cancer stuff."

Eric's brows angrily knitted closer together, "I moved to Seattle before Mom was diagnosed."

"And yet you never moved back or came for too many visits after she was." His sister reminded with a glare.

"You were _three hours away_!" he practically shouted as he stood up from his chair, "You could have come at least _once_!"

Jackie watched the scene play out, not knowing what else to do.

"I have a kid to take care of." She shot back, "What do you have in Seattle?"

"A job!"

Laurie's frown deepened, "You don't think I have a job? How do you think I support Lucy and myself?"

"I…" Eric suddenly froze as he realized what his sister had been saying. His upset expression soon diminished and he seemed to instantly calm down as a feeling of confusion took over, "How did you know I'm living in Seattle?"

Again Laurie shrugged, "I have my ways."

Feeling defeated, Eric sank back into his chair. As soon as he did Jackie reached over and grabbed one of his arms running her hand over it soothingly. The gesture did not go unseen by Laurie.

She noticed it the gesture and the expressions on their faces and it made her curious. She's seen a scene similar to this one with her parents. Whenever her father would get mad it wasn't uncommon of her mother to rub her hands over his arm as if trying to calm him. Of course they were married. Did this mean there was something going on between her baby brother and the girl that had once given her a black eye?

"Laurie," Jackie spoke up, this was getting ridiculous at this rate they'd never find out how Laurie had gotten here. "why don't you just tell us whatever you think we should know and if we have any other questions we'll just ask?"

"Fine." Laurie gradually agreed and took a few seconds as she tried to figure out where would be the best place to start her story, "Well the year I left here, right after marrying Fez so he could stay in the country, I went to…"

"Hey Jackie." a new voice called from the basement, "Betsy's talking about pizza and ice cream. How much of my money did you…Holy shit!"

Hyde's train of thought was suddenly lost the second he entered the kitchen and saw the Earth Mother Whore sitting at the kitchen table with Eric, Jackie, and an unknown little girl in her lap.

Laurie turned to the curly haired man, "Hey Orphan Boy, watch you language. My daughter is in the room."

"Your….your…da…_daughter_?" Hyde staggered with his words as he did the same with his footsteps.

Irritated with Hyde's behavior Laurie rolled her eyes and sighed knowing she better get use to the introductions. There were going to be a lot of them today.

"Hyde, this is Lucy. Lucy, this is your Uncle Hyde."

Hyde stared back at the shy little girl whose brown eyes were looking at him. Brown eyes that looked very similar to…

"Holy sh…oe." He finished his statement weakly, but not taking away any of the surprised feelings he felt as he realized who little girl's father was. Seeing Lucy's frighten expression—that he must have caused—tugged at Hyde's heart abit. He didn't want the little girl to be scared; she had enough to worry about with Laurie as her mother.

"Uh hey…hi kid." He greeted Zenly and then looked at the girl's mother, "Laurie, how'd you…where did you…"

"We were about to find out when you interrupted." Jackie informed in bitter tone.

Laurie nodded in agreement, "Yeah, so sit your butt down because I am not repeating myself again for you orphan boy."

Still shell shocked with the whole situation, Hyde's brain didn't seem to be thinking straight and so he wasn't able to come up with any comeback for any of the two women. Instead he sat himself down in the seat between Eric and Laurie.

This was another action that caught Laurie attention. Since when did Hyde willingly sit next to her? And wasn't he stuck like glue to the brunette midget the last time she was here?

Yeah, she had missed out on a lot.

"So like I was saying, the year I left here I went to New York and met up with one of my friends from college. Emma Dunphey." Laurie began her story, "We shared an apartment for a year or two but then I met Brad. I moved in with him but things ended up not working out…"

"He go back to his wife?" Hyde couldn't help but ask.

"No." Laurie snarled, "She came back to him."

Hyde shook his head feeling like he had stepped back into time. Well almost…

"So when Brad got back with his wife I was pretty much on my own. Emma had already moved out of our apartment so I couldn't go back there. That's when I decided to come back to Wisconsin." Laurie went onto explain, her audience captivated by her story, "But I didn't wanna come back to this hole. New York had gotten me used to the busy, bright city life. So instead of coming back to Point Place I went to Milwaukee."

"Milwaukee?" Hyde asked loudly—this was the first time he'd heard about it and he was just as surprised as the couple had been when they'd first found out.

"Yeah, yeah she's been there this whole time, big surprise." Jackie said quickly with a dismissing wave of her hand—she wanted to hear the rest of the city. "Now…Shh!"

Eric nodded, "And yes, Milwaukee is the New York City of Wisconsin."

"As I was saying." Laurie went on but not before send a glare Eric's way, "I moved to Milwaukee in '81 I think…I managed to find my own place and a job that would help me pay the rent…"

Hyde smirked smugly, "As a…" his burn was suddenly cut short when his eyes landed on the innocent little girl in Laurie's lap; he could say the things he was going to say in front of her. He sighed heavily, "dancer?"

"No." Laurie shook her head, glaring slightly—he didn't have to say it but she knew what Hyde really wanted to say, "And my job isn't even important to the story." She added before clearing her throat and picking up where she'd left off.

"It was right after New Years of '82 when I ran into Fez…"

"And that's when you guys got together!" Jackie almost shouted as she jumped out of her seat, confident that she was correct.

Laurie stared at the younger woman, an unamused look on her face, "Do you wanna tell the story?"

Jackie was silent. Those words alone were able to tell her that she'd guessed correctly but she didn't say anything or clap with excitement like she would have done at any other time. Laurie had a story to tell and she was the only one who could tell it, Jackie knew this. She also knew that she wanted to hear it and so she carefully sat back in her seat.

Meanwhile as Jackie took her seat beside him Eric hadn't even noticed she'd noticed she'd gotten up. He'd stopped listening and watching when he heard Jackie say that his sister and Fez had hooked up…back in '82…the little girl looked to be around four years old…and she had brown eyes, just like…

"Oh my God!" Eric suddenly shouted at last putting the pieces together, "Fez is Lucy's father?"

With a roll of her eyes Laurie stared at her oblivious brother, Jackie and Hyde also found themselves looking at Eric—a frown on each of their foreheads.

"You seriously just figured that out, Forman?"

Eric swung his head over to his adopted brother, his eyes wider than they'd ever been, "You knew too? Why didn't you tell me?"

"We thought you had figured it out too." Jackie replied, "At least I did. You never know with Steven…"

Both men scowled at Jackie. Eric because she'd know the detail and hadn't said something before and Hyde because of the last statement she'd made about him. Each of them opened their mouth ready to argue but were quickly cut off by the impatient blonde sitting at the table.

"Do you people wanna hear the story or not?" she questioned sounding even more aggravated than before. After waiting a few seconds and receiving nothing but silence she went on.

"When I ran into Fez we started talking about things and he pretty much filled me in on all of your pathetic lives."

"How you'd gone to Africa for some teaching thing and come back home only to move to Seattle to teach." Laurie shared as she looked at her brother.

"Something about you and your own…little dancer." She said pointing at Hyde.

Hearing Laurie's words caused Hyde to look down at his hands on the table. He didn't want to even catch a glimpse of the glare Jackie must have been giving. He knew she was still hurt about that and it still hurt him knowing how much he'd hurt her.

Laurie turned to Jackie, "He said you dated him for about a week, but I really didn't believe him."

Jackie didn't say anything. Of course it was true, she had dated Fez for an entire week but the whole thing was really an insane idea. The two of them were so much better off as just friends.

"He told me about Kelso being married and having his own daughter…Betsy. That's how I knew about that." She informed, "And he also told me about Mom…I guess it had been a couple of months after she'd first been diagnosed. He told me about the surgeries and treatment she was planning on going through…pretty much just anything he knew about it."

"When Fez told me about Mom, I got pretty upset and he was there to help comfort me and then…"she drifted off thinking of the best way to put this, "Well what Jackie said."

Eric grimaced at the thought of Fez… 'comforting' his sister and tried his best not to think about it. Still the brain could be an evil thing, it always made you think of things you didn't want to think of no matter how hard you tried to keep the thoughts out. From the look on Hyde's face, he was dealing with a situation much like Eric's. Jackie smiled proudly letting the fact that she had been right fill her mind instead of the thoughts of Fez and Laurie actually together.

Slowly—much too slowly for him—Eric managed to get rid of the disturbing and replace them with a new concern.

"Laurie, why didn't you tell anyone?" he asked with a small confused frown indented on his forehead, "Why didn't you call Mom and Dad?"

"I couldn't." his sister replied softly, "I knew they were already going through enough with Mom's cancer…the last thing they needed was their pregnant, unwed daughter living with them. And I couldn't tell Fez either, I didn't have any of his information."

"You went through your whole pregnancy alone?" Jackie asked, surprised by the fact that she was starting to feel bad for Laurie Forman.

Laurie shook her head and continued her story, "When I found out I was pregnant I went to see Uncle Marty who was living in Milwaukee at the time…he was the only family member I could think of that was close by. Sure there was Aunt Paula but I knew she'd blab to Mom a second after I told her." She explained, "I pretty much told Uncle Marty everything, me being pregnant and about Mom."

"He insisted that I move in with him while I was pregnant. He said something about it being better for me and the baby and how we were family and that Dad would do the same thing with Penny…who guess is his daughter." Laurie added with a wave of her add, she really didn't pay too close attention to details in her extended family, "I don't think Dad would do it either way, Mom would probably force him into it."

There was a short moment of silence as the trio nodded in agreement as they thought about their sick mother.

"Anyway, I agreed but made him promise not to say anything to Mom or Dad and that I'd do it on my own time. He agreed but still made calls over here to find out how Mom was doing."

"Lucy's birthday is November 11th." Laurie informed looking down at smiling at her little girl, "I thought about calling home that day…I picked up the phone and everything. But I didn't know how Mom and Dad were gonna react. I knew they'd be angry and I didn't want anything to ruin that day for me."

Laurie looked back over to her audience, "So me and Lucy lived with Uncle Marty until she was about two, then he moved to Rhode Island for some job thing and left us the apartment. Of course I still have to pay rent, so I got a job." Catching Hyde's jaw start to move, Laurie sent a pointed look his way, "At a salon."

Eric's puzzled scowl made a reappearance, "Wait a salon? Can you do that? Don't you have to be licensed or something like that?"

"Yeah, I've got it." Laurie causally answered despite the shocked reactions she received, "I went to beauty school over in New York and just took the test to be licensed here."

"You actually went back to beauty school?" Eric asked surprised.

Hyde was just as stunned, "You actually _finished_ beauty school?"

Laurie could only snarl at her brothers before Jackie spoke up asking a question that still hadn't been answer after Laurie's long story.

"Ok that explains everything from before, but what about now?" she asked the blonde, "How did you find out about what's going on with your mom? How were you able to tell Marty about everything when you called him?"

Hyde shook his head not believing what he'd heard, "Wait Laurie, you're the one who called Marty?"

"You just figured that out, Hyde?" Eric asked with a smirk, happy to have known something Hyde hadn't.

"I just found out everything on Monday." Laurie started to say, "I ran into Casey Kelso and he told me he was sorry to hear about Mom and how Kelso and his family were coming over here…apparently they had planned on going to visit him the weekend they got your call. He told me everything he knew and that's when I called Uncle Marty. I filled him on everything asked him to call here and get more details so he could tell me. Guess sometime between then and now he called Aunt Paula."

"After I found out just how sick Mom really is right now, I knew I had to come over. Not just so Lucy could meet her but so that Mom could meet Lucy…so she could at least see her."

Laurie's tone of voice went soft again, making her actually sound vulnerable, "I've put this off for so long and I'm still really _really_ nervous about how they're gonna react. To everything. I had my car packed since Tuesday but it was only a couple of hours ago that I finally got myself to actually drive here."

There was an eerie silence that filled the room. These past few minutes had been filled with so many things. They were a lot to take in. Laurie's story, Laurie being home, Laurie having a kid, Fez's kid, seeing Laurie in such a weak and afraid like state, and none of the three were use to feeling any sympathy towards the blonde but yet that seemed to be the only thing they felt besides the hint of anger Hyde felt. However seeing Little Lucy's face helped reduce that anger.

"Uh Laurie," Jackie began to say, finding it a little hard to believe that she was actually having a decent conversation with the blonde, "I've know your parents for a long time. I kinda think of them as my own…and yeah I'm sure they will be upset but it won't last very long. You're your dad's favorite…well right after me of course."

Laurie scoffed slightly at the last part of Jackie's statement, "Yeah, ok."

"Actually I think Jackie's got a point Laurie." Hyde said, not sure which surprised him more that he was agreeing with Jackie or that he was being nice to Laurie, "And you've really got nothing to worry about with Mom. I mean she's just gonna, for some weird reason, be happy to see you. And when she's sees Lucy…" he gave a smile thinking about the possible reaction, it was indescribable, "She's always talked about having grandkids."

As Laurie sent a tiny smile Hyde's way Eric sat quietly. He was surprised by Jackie's words, he was even more surprised by what Hyde had said, but what really surprised him was what he was about to say.

"Laurie, I'm not just saying this because these two have already said thing about Mom and Dad but," he paused and smiled as he looked at his shy niece, "you've really got nothing to worry about with Fez. The guy's a big kid himself, he and Lucy'll get along great and you should see him with Betsy. He'd make a great dad."

Laurie's smile grew at her brother's words. "You know I don't really know why you guys are being so nice and supportive now after everything we...well I've done, but I really appreciate it."

This caused a smile and two smirks to appear.

"Where're Mom and Dad?" she finally asked after taking a deep breath.

"Up in their room." Eric answered.

Laurie nodded, "And Fez?"

"In the basement." Hyde informed.

Taking another deep breath Laurie stood up from her seat and held the quiet child closer to her, "Guess it's time. Come on Baby, there's some important people you need to meet."

Eric, Jackie, and Hyde watched as Laurie made her way across the kitchen before pushing through the swinging door. Once she was gone and they replayed the last few minutes in the room…it was all so surreal.

"Wow." Eric managed to breathe out.

"Yeah." Both Hyde and Jackie agreed.

However having answered the same thing and at the same time, did not sit well with neither Hyde nor Jackie. They frowned and one another before Hyde stood up and walked away from the table.

"I'm going down to the basement." He announced.

At first Jackie had been relieved at his message but then she remembered who else was down there, "Steven…"

"Relax Jackie." he said Zenly, already knowing what his ex-girlfriend was going to say, "I'm not gonna say anything to Fez. I'm just gonna get a good seat before the show starts." He said jokingly before leaving the room.

Jackie shook her head as he left and couldn't help but notice how that little interaction between herself and Hyde right now almost felt like the kind they had a few days before. This was good in the fact that she realized maybe the talk she needed to have with him wouldn't be so bad. It was still bad though because she still wanted to be mad at him a little longer for saying he wanted to control her life.

She shook her head getting rid of her thoughts and looked at Eric who remained still.

"So how do you think your dad's gonna react?" she asked.

"I don't know." He replied with a shake of his head, "He had a heart attack when she told him she married Fez to stay in the country, this time she's pretty much got proof that they did it."

Jackie nodded understandingly, "I'm gonna punch in the nine and the one that way we only have one number to dial."

"Good idea." Eric nodded as he stood up and followed Jackie to the phone.

0o0o0o

Upstairs in the Forman's bedroom, the couple laid in quietly in their bed. Kitty had her eyes closed as she rested her head on her husband's shoulder, relaxed in the moment. The same could not be said for Red. His eyes were opened as he watched Kitty—relaxed wouldn't be the word he'd use to describe himself at the moment.

"Kitty?" he called out making his softer, "Do you need another blanket."

A faint smile appeared on Kitty's lips as she kept her eyes closed and replied, "No honey, I'm fine."

Red nodded but only a second later he asked another question, "How's the pain? You still feeling nauseous?"

"No, Red." Kitty answered holding back a bigger smile as her husband continued with his questions.

"Are you sure you don't want me to bring up any medications from downstairs?" Red asked, her comfort being the top item on his list, "You want the TV on, maybe there's a good."

"Red." Kitty interjected, at last opening her eyes and looking up at him, "Honey, I'm okay. Really. I don't need anything, I don't want anything. Except to just lye here with you for a few minutes, and it be just you and me."

A smirk made it's way to Red's lips and his moved his right arm that was around Kitty, giving her a small squeeze.

"Ok." He nodded before kissing the top of her head, "Ok."

Kitty's wish must have come true for a good two minutes, the two of them laid in their bed together just enjoying having the other close, before a soft knock was made on their bedroom door.

"Geeze…"Red groaned as he pulled away from his wife just slightly, "I'm gonna have to get one of those signs to put up on the door."

"A 'Do Not Disturb' sign?" Kitty asked with a slight frown.

"More of a 'Disturb and I'll Stick My Foot Up Your Ass' sign."

Shaking her head and holding in a laugh, Kitty carefully sat up and looked at the closed bedroom door.

"Come in." she called out.

There were a few seconds that passed before the doorknob turned and the door was at last pushed open just a tiny bit. Through that tiny bit, Laurie stuck out her head while leaving her body and daughter hidden by the door.

"Mommy, Daddy." She said in her innocent voice, "I'm home."

The familiar words and the voice that said them came as a shock to both Red and Kitty; together with large eyes they looked to the door and were greeted with the sight of their absent daughter.

Red stared at his daughter not sure if he should believe his eyes or not, he was running low on sleep maybe it was a hallucination. He slowly sat up,"Laurie?"

"Oh honey, is that really you?" Kitty asked for her husband.

The young woman carefully nodded 'yes,' and smiled slightly "Yeah, it's me."

Red's uncertain and confused look soon disappeared and a smirk that came very close to a smile came onto his face. His wife's reaction was quite similar as she looked at their daughter after all these years, happy to see that she was alright.

"Oh come in sweetie, come in." her mother welcomed her, sounding close to tears.

Laurie nodded and realized it was now or never and she didn't want it to be never. Very slowly, she pushed the bedroom door farther open inch by inch, cautiously revealing Lucy to her parents.

At the sight of the little girl two thing immediately happened. A large scowl appeared on Red's face and Kitty's hand flew to her mouth after a gasp was made.

"Laurie…" Red struggled for his words, "who…"

"Mommy, Daddy, this is Lucille Jasmine Forman." Laurie began the introductions again, "Your granddaughter."

Red's eyes widened while at the same time his brows moved closer together; meanwhile the tears in Kitty's eyes began to fall.

"You mean…I'm a grandma?" she asked a mix of excitement and tears in her voice.

Laurie smiled and nodded rapidly.

"Oh…" Kitty said happily still fighting back tears as she looked at her daughter and granddaughter, "Oh Laurie she is just so beautiful."

Smiling Laurie walked closer to her parents so that her mother could see Lucy up closer. Even though Red looked just about ready to murder someone, her mother's reaction told Laurie that she made the right choice in making the trip.

Red watched his wife welcome Laurie back home with a big hug, but he just couldn't being himself to do that just yet. He still couldn't process any of this. He hadn't seen his daughter or even heard from her in years and now she was suddenly here with her own child. She left this house and she was just his little girl and now she had her own little girl?

"She's got such cute little blonde curls, just like you had when you were a baby." Kitty rambled on, "Oh and what pretty brown eyes. They look a lot like…Oh my."

Mother and daughter shared a look that Red was able to pick up on.

"What?" He asked he scowl deepening, "Who's eyes do they look like? Kitty?"

Neither of the women said anything, leaving Red to try to come up with answer on his own.

It had to be someone he didn't care for and probably hated, otherwise Kitty or Laurie would have told hi already. However the list of people Red disliked was very long so he decided to narrow it out a bit by thinking of people closer to his daughter's age. Still a long list but a bit shorter. And they had to have brown eyes...that would have helped slim down the list too, but Red Forman wasn't exactly the type to remember people's eye color.

His mind went to the dumbasses in the basement first. He knew it couldn't have been Hyde because he and Laurie were like siblings. It wasn't the kettle head either, he was a dumbass and known to do very stupid things like gluing his hand to his face, but wouldn't do something as stupid as cheating on his wife. Then there was the foreigner…

Red's thoughts ended there and he looked back at his apparent granddaughter looking at her eyes.

"Oh crap." He muttered as he put it all together.

"Red!" Kitty scolded at him for cursing in front of their granddaughter even if Laurie covered one of her ears with her hand while the other was pressed against her chest.

Red shook his head as he stood up off the bed, his anger building up more and more.

"Don't 'Red' me, Kitty." He said and then turned to his daughter, "Laurie it's been over five years since we've heard from you…you couldn't have picked up a phone called in, checked on your mother, told us we had a granddaughter?"

Laurie sat silently listening to what her father had to say. She knew he was upset with her, very upset. He very rarely ever yelled at her but now he was and she knew she deserved his anger. Holding Lucy closer to her, shielding her ears and hopefully some of the scene from her, Laurie fixed her eyes on the coral colored lamp on the nightstand. She could take Red's scolding, but she couldn't look him n the eyes.

"Red…" Kitty called out softly, as she saw Laurie's state.

But Red ignored Kitty's voice and continued with what he had to say.

"And now you just waltz on right back in here and casually introduce us to your daughter? The foreigner's daughter? I…I.." he drifted off as he looked at Laurie. The way she looked ashamed, the way she held her child…she looked just like she did when she was a little girl but at the same time so grown up. As he watched his daughter he caught the eyes of Lucy and his heart nearly melted...but he wasn't ready for that.

"Damn it!" he nearly shouted after looking away from the little girl, "I'm going to the garage!"

Laurie waited until she heard her father's stomps start to fade as he exited the bedroom and went down the hallway, before she uncovered her daughter's ears and finally looked back at Kitty.

"Mommy, are you ok?" she asked softly, she could the tears in her ill mother's eyes and wanted to know the reason behind them,

"Well Laurie, I am surprised to see you and I'm still a bit disappointed that you didn't stay in touch with us." Kitty shared before smiling at the mother and daughter, "But I just found out I'm a grandma. I'm more than ok."

Laurie smiled back glad that at least her mother was happy and welcoming towards Lucy. She scooted closer to her mother so that Kitty and Lucy could get to know each other…which was really her whole reason for coming.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__There it is Chapter 32 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Kudos to Marla for guessing Fez in her last review! _

_How will Fez react to find out he's a father? Will Red ever come around and talk to Laurie? What will he do to Fez? Is Eric ever going to get that goodnight kiss? When will Jackie and Hyde have their talk? And will Red get the Vista Cruiser running this time around? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Until then, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	34. Longer And Longer

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello Everyone! Holy Macaroni ! I am really, really, really late with this new chapter huh? A whole month without an update? I am so so so very sorry. School and finals really got in the way but now I'm on vacation till the middle of January and I'm hoping to get ahead with my fics before class starts up again so that this won't happen again. Just gotta get myself on a normal sleeping pattern, right now its like I got to be at 6 in the morning and wake up and 3 in the afternoon. Not good I know. But it's just something else I gotta work on. Couple of notes I am soo very very sorry once again for not updating in so long I hope you all can forgive me. This new chapter is pretty long wink wink. Thank you so very much for all your support and reviews they really help me keep going and I hope I haven't lost too many of you readers. Also please remember I am not a doctor no am I going to school to be one…I am still watching House M.D. though, the man's a genius! But anyywoo thanks again, please forgive my tardiness, hope you like this chapter! Enjoy!_

* * *

"_Fifteen."_

"_Two."_

_She tried again. "Ten."_

"_Three." He replied in his Zen manner._

"_Eight."_

"_Four."_

"_Six." She said, still not giving up._

"_Five."_

"_Fine."_

_Hyde smirked as he finally got his surrogate mother to agree on a number—it felt like they'd been arguing about it for more than hour—he was even happier that he had been the one to give the number and not the one to given in on the number. Little did he realize Kitty was only seconds away from making that same offer._

_It had been a while since Kitty had taken possession of Hyde's camera, and she still had yet to give it back. She was happy behind the camera and giving her second son a taste of his own medicine. It wasn't that she didn't like the idea of the video, or even making it, she really did love it, however she wasn't so thrilled at the fact that since early noon Hyde had yet to turn the machine off._

"_So you get five questions to ask me." Hyde repeated, making sure that he got what they had agreed on on film, "And sine you've only got five, I'm sure you'll wanna take your time. Think of some really good questions, and in the mean time I can…"_

_The curly-haired young man reached out to get back his camera only to have it pulled back and farther away from him before he could finish his sentence._

"_What are you going to tell my future grandchildren about me?" Kitty questioned, she didn't need anytime to think of any of her five questions, "Your children, Eric's children…any of them."_

_Trying to keep Zen and have his answers be as short as possible, so the questions would come faster and he could be back behind the camera soon, Hyde shrugged his shoulders._

"_Nothing." He replied "That's what this videos for. They ask and we'll pop in the tape."_

_Kitty furrowed her brow from behind the camera as she shook her head slightly, "What if you can't find the video? Or they've already seen it. What are you going to tell them then."_

_Hyde avoided eye contact with Kitty and the camcorder and then let out a very audible sigh. If there anything he hated more than being infront of a camera, it was being asked these 'deep, emotional' questions. And what he hated even more than both those things together, was thinking about what thing would be like when Kitty wasn't here anymore._

_He knew it was inevitable—everyone died—and there was a good chance that the cancer would be the thing that would take her life, he knew all that…but that didn't mean he liked thinking about it. He couldn't think about it. It was too depressing and painful._

_But here he was now being asked to think and talk about it by Kitty herself. It was time to face his fear…well part of it._

"_Uh…I don't know Mom." He mumbled still not looking at the camera, "I'd tell them lots of stuff."_

_You could hear Kitty's smile as she asked "Like what?"_

"_Like…"Hyde sighed again, "How you were strong through the whole cancer thing, and never gave up…how you were strong through pretty much everything and were the one to keep us all together…"_

_A tiny smile began to form on Hyde's lips; he was finding it a bit easier as he realized he didn't have to think about Kitty being gone to answer the question he just had to think of some important things about her, things he thought about whenever he thought about when he thought of her now. Yet still his gaze remained on his clasped hands._

"_I'd tell them how you were a mom to all of us basement kids. And how you and Red took me in and made me feel like I was part of your family even before I moved in."_

_Slowly Hyde moved his eyes away from his hands and looked at Kitty, "And how I thought you were the only woman ever worthy enough to be called Mom." His smirk grew, "And how you made the word's best brownies."_

"_Oh Steven." Kitty said obviously touched by his words and feeling as if she were about to cry, "That is just so sweet."_

_Hyde shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah well…"_

"_But your still not getting this camera back Mister." She teased still sounding close to tears._

"_Gave it a shot." He replied with a playful smirk._

_0o0o0o_

"You think she told Red yet?" Jackie asked.

She and Eric were sitting at the kitchen table; they had stood by the telephone for a few minutes waiting for any indication that told them they needed to dial that last one. But it never came. The two decided that either Laurie was probably taking some time before going in to see Red and Kitty or Red had reacted a lot calmer to the news. Each of them were going with the first choice.

"No, we'll know when Laurie told Dad. Believe me we'll know. See when Laurie tells Red one of these three things will happen." Eric paused for dramatic effect, "We'll hear Red's shouting of obscurities. Mom or Laurie will yell to us to call an ambulance. Or Red will march down here with his hunting rifle looking for Fez."

Jackie did her best to stifle a giggle with her hand at that last one, but she couldn't get rid of her smile no matter how hard she tired. And that made Eric smile right back.

Shaking her head and still fighting her smile, Jackie started to speak again, "It was so weird tonight though with the whole Laurie thing. And I don't just mean her being here and having Lucy and the rest of her story, I mean…I just…I've never felt sorry for Laurie! But right now when she was talking to us, I did. I really did, I helped her out and was nice to her. I've never been nice to Laurie…well unless you count that trip to Van Stock…"

"You think it was weird for you? At least you two have Van Stock. Laurie and I have never ever been nice to each other." Eric stated trying to out beat how weird Jackie felt about the previous situation, "We have baby picture of me pulling Laurie's hair. And…I am ninety eight percent sure she tried to smoother me with a pillow when I was an infant and sleeping in my crib."

Again Jackie giggled at the argument Eric was making and was sure he had made up.

"You think I'm making it up, but I still have nightmares from time to time!" he declared pointing his finger in the air.

This caused Jackie to laugh even harder and after a few seconds Eric couldn't help but join in in the laughter. It always felt so good to laugh. And he was sure if it was because of what was going on with his mother or because he was with Jackie but these days when he laughed it felt better than it had before.

Jackie flashed him a small smile, once their laughs dimmed out, "This has really been one crazy weird night, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, well a crazy and weird night is pretty much a definite deal when going on a date with Eric Forman." Eric replied with a shrug of his shoulders, "Which is usually the main reason a date with Eric Forman happens less often then a lunar eclipse."

Though Eric had said his words in a joking matter, he himself was laughing a quick laugh, the statement did not sit well with Jackie. She couldn't understand why a guy like Eric would have such low self-esteem. All of those jabs from Red in the past couldn't have done all of that, and besides even then Eric had Kitty there smothering him—her way of trying to make things better.

The brunette tilted her head to the left, wearing a serious expression her face, "You really need to stop talking like that."

"In English?" Eric asked playfully with a pretend frown, "Well I guess I could talk in Spanish or French…but I don't really know any. In fact the only language I know how to speak is English…well unless you count the ones in _Star Wars_. But really to choose just one…it's too hard."

Jackie did not look very amused, and if her face wasn't enough to show it her tone sure did the trick.

"Ha ha ha." She said sarcastic, "I'm serious Eric, you really need to stop talking so negatively about yourself."

Sensing that joking time was over Eric looked down and fixed his gaze on the table top while listening to whatever Jackie had to say this time.

"You're a really great guy. Your family sees it, your friends see it, I'm sure people in Seattle see it…" she was cut off for a few seconds by Eric's quick scoff, but then quickly picked up where she'd left off, "I'm almost positive your students see it."

That last sentence made Eric feel a slight tug at the corners of his mouth. Still, he contained the grin and continued to look away from Jackie's eyes. However by not looking at Jackie, he wasn't able to notice that she saw his actions. Nor was he able to see her hand reach over and place her delicate, soft hand over his own.

"I see it." Jackie stated and then gave his hand a small squeeze, "It's time you did too."

This time Eric had to look away from the old table and over at Jackie, his newly formed smile meeting hers.

"Jackie," he began to say—not to protest or argue but to tell her what her words meant to him. No one had ever said something like that to him. And he was really enjoying the feel of her holding his hand, he'd yet to let go.

Jackie shook her head not letting him go on, "And I may have said that this night has been 'crazy and weird.' _But_, it's been one of the most fun nights I've had in a long time."

A wave of relief washed over Eric and he nearly let out a matching sigh. He was quite relieved to find out that Jackie had fun tonight even if it had been a crazy and weird night. He himself felt the same way. And a part of him wished that his previous and few dates from Seattle had been able to find some sense of fun in the crazy weird nights they'd had with him, but that was just a little part of him. The rest of him was just glad _Jackie_ had found some sense of fun in their night together.

"You know," Eric began to say as a playful smirk began to make its way to his lips, "I think I know something that will make this night even funner and better than it is now."

Curiously, Jackie raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"A kiss." He answered a bit smugly.

The former cheerleader let out a tiny little laugh that cause her shoulders to drop a bit before titling her head to the side and giving Eric coy-like smile.

"Eric, I told you remember? Any kiss we have tonight will be our 'Goodnight Kiss' and our date will be over." She reminded and gave a quick pause then shrugged her shoulders, "But if you're ready for our date to be over…"

Jackie then leaned in towards him, her eyes closed and her pretty pink lips pouted and ready for a kiss. The sight was very tempting and the memories of their previous kisses made things even worse for poor Eric. Luckily he found enough strength and swiftly pulled himself back and away from Jackie.

"No! No! Wait!" he almost shouted while placing his outstretched arms infront of a now giggling Jackie, "Ok what if…"

The wheels in Eric's mind were spinning as he desperately tried to come up with an idea. He really, really wanted to kiss her. But he really, really, really didn't want their date to be over just yet. He had to come up with something…

"Oh ok I know!" he said as an idea came to him, "What if we have a small little kiss now as a kinda…'Sneak Peak' to the 'Goodnight Kiss?' You know to kinda hold us…ok me over till then. What do you think?"

A well manicured index finger rested itself against Jackie's cheek while she started to think. She was in the same place Eric really. She wanted to kiss him, but wasn't ready to say 'goodnight' and end the evening…_When was the last time that had happened_? She had to ask herself. Still just because she wanted to kiss him as much as he wanted to kiss her didn't mean she had to let him know that.

"I guess we could do that." She replied nonchalantly before putting in a twist, "But you'll have to earn it."

"Deal." Eric quickly agreed taking Jackie aback.

Wide eyed with surprise Jackie stared back at him "Wh…what?"

"I said 'deal." Eric repeated trying not to show his amusement at her reaction, "Now close your eyes."

"What?" she asked still feeling confused. One little pep talk and now low self esteemed Eric Forman was turning into a regular Evel Knievel!

"Close your eyes."

"Why?"

Eric smiled as he stood up from his seat, "Just trust me."

Jackie stared at Eric and his mischievous smile for only a second or two before doing as she was told and shutting her eyelids over her eyes.

Her actions made Eric's mischievous smile turn into one of happiness. He asked her to trust him and she did. Just like that! If this had been Donna he'd asked to close her eyes and trust him she'd still be questioning his motives. That was getting even clearer to see and even better to know.

"But I'm telling you now Forman," Jackie spoke, stopping Eric from taking another step to the side door. He looked back around and saw her eyes were still closed and she was pointed a finger in his direction, "You kiss me while my eyes are closed like this and dates over!"

Eric nodded, "Noted."

For at least three minutes or so Jackie sat in the empty kitchen with her eyes closed. She could only assume the kitchen was empty thanks to two things: one she'd heard the glass door be pushed to the right a minute or so ago and since then the room had been calm and silent. She couldn't help but wonder what exactly Eric was up to and decided to let her mind wander and explore a few ideas.

Soon though Jackie was pulled out of her thoughts as she heard foot steps and then the slight squeak of the green cushioned kitchen seat.

"Ok." Eric's voice soon followed, "You can open them now."

Not having to be told twice Jackie's eyes fluttered open to a sight she wasn't expecting to see in front of her. She rapidly blinked her mismatched eyes to make sure what she was seeing was real before reaching out and to touch the figure that was on the round tabletop.

Of course it wasn't just some figure.

It was a small figure with wavy brown hair, a blue dress with matching bow, and white shoes and socks. It was the doll she had always wanted. It wa steh dolls he had showed Eric today at the toy store. It was Darling Daisy.

"I know you said She should be given to you by someone special and I thought we've known each other for a pretty long time and we…well we weren't the best of friends but we were still kinda friends during that time."

"And now we've got this going on between us…I just thought I was maybe special enough to be able to give you this doll." Eric rambled on trying not to show how nervous he was and actually doing a pretty decent job on it—he had yet to twitch once—he shrugged his shoulders, "And if not…I don't know…maybe…someday I will."

Jackie was listening to every word that Eric had said but still couldn't seem to find her voice and instead just continued to run her hand over the baby doll.

"Maybe not." He added when he realized how needy that last statement had sounded, the last thing he wanted to do was freak Jackie out, "Either way…no matter what happens…I really think it's about time you got your dream doll."

At last Jackie looked away from Daisy and looked at Eric; her hand however continued to run along the soft cotton of Daisy's dress.

"You…you…you…"Jackie struggled for her words still, now even more so after hearing Eric's touching words.

"Actually it's one 'you.'" Eric stated in attempt to make a joke, "And usually there's a 'thank' before for it."

Instantly a grin broke onto Jackie's face, "Thank you, Eric." She said in a sincere tone before changing it to a more inquisitive one, "How did you get her? I was with you the whole time."

"Not true." Eric was quick to remind with a lifted, pointing index finger, "Remember when we were inline and I told you to hold my place because there was a smudge on the Han Solo box and I was gonna go get another one? Well instead of getting another one I put them back and…"

"Got me Darling Daisy." Jackie finished for him and when he nodded her heart swelled, "Oh Eric, that is so sweet! You put back your dolls to get my doll."

The smile on Eric's face soon dropped, "No. I put back my _action figures_ to get your doll."

"Right." Jackie agreed not sounding very convinced as she pulled the doll into her lap and softly brushed its hair with her hand.

"Hey don't think I spent all my money on you, missy!" Eric pretended to sound upset, "I also bought myself a Star Wars puzzle that I saw at the register."

She shook her head slightly, "I don't care what else you bought, Eric." She smiled her bright, beautiful smile, "You bought me Darling Daisy. You have no idea how much this means to me. Thank you, Eric."

"You're welcome, Jackie." he said returning the smile that soon turned into his playful one before, "Now I believe this knight has earned a small token of gratitude from a certain damsel...and I'm not talking about one of those handkerchief things either." He quickly added

"I believe you're right." Jackie agreed smiling still before she placed her new doll back on the table and leaned in towards her hero.

Eric soon began to do the same, ready to meet her in the middle and receive his reward. However just before Jackie's lips touched his, Eric rapidly pulled back catching Jackie off guard.

"Hold on a sec." he told her.

Frowning with confusion Jackie watched Eric turn his attention to the doll he'd just bought her. He grabbed Darling Daisy in an almost cautious way and turned her so that she was no longer looking at them and instead was facing the opposite way.

His actions made Jackie giggle and it wasn't until Eric was sure the doll couldn't 'see' them that he turned his attention back to Jackie.

"I may have bought her for you, but she still scares the hell out of me." He confessed.

Jackie stopped her giggling but kept her grin in place, "Didn't I already tell you, you talk too much?"

Eric thought back to when he'd been told that before by Jackie and then the kiss that soon followed, that made his return smile grow even more. His smile didn't last very long though, because only seconds later his mouth was being covered by hers.

It seemed like their lips had just made contact when the swinging door to the kitchen was swung pen. Not wanting a repeat of what happened the night before or to upset the person who was walking into the room even more—the heavy stomps told them exactly who it was—the couple hurriedly pulled apart and landed back into their respective seats as they tried not to look too guilty.

Though it really didn't matter what they looked like, Red probably wouldn't have even noticed their lip lock if the hadn't pulled out of it. He just stomped his way through the kitchen and to the garage, muttering words that only a few could be made out by Jackie and Eric. Those words being mostly in the curse word area.

Silently both Eric and Jackie watched Red make his way out to the cold as he practically slammed the sliding door behind him.

Eric carefully looked over at Jackie, "I guess someone should go talk to him."

"Yeah." Jackie nodded.

With a small sigh Eric slowly began to stand up from his seat but Jackie beat him to it as she popped out of hers.

"I'll go." She announced, sending him into a shock.

"What?"

Jackie released a sigh, she really didn't want him to get upset with her, "Look Eric, I know you wanna help…and it's great that you wanna talk to your dad but…I think I should handle this. Ok?"

Ok? Was that ok? Was it ok if she went to go talk to an angry Red and try to calm him down instead of him doing it? That was more than ok!

"Yeah, no, sure." He nodded still a bit startled, "Uh good luck."

"Thanks." Jackie replied with a tiny smile as she put on her coat.

After buttoning a few of the buttons Jackie headed over to the glass doors, trying to think of what the best way to do this would be. It was not going to be an easy task. Not at all. But there was one thing she could do that help make things a bit easier…

Not missing a beat Jackie stopped just two steps before the side door, swiveled herself around and walked over to the brown refrigerator. Eric followed her as her heels clinked on each tile she stepped on. She reached into he icebox and retrieved two cans of beer before turning back around and retracing her steps to the sliding door.

Eric continued to watch Jackie until she was outside and had closed the door behind her, then he silently wished her another good luck and turned himself away from the glass door. As soon as he did so, he nearly jumped out of his skin as he found himself staring face to face with the Darling Daisy Doll.

"Didn't I just…"he started to ask and then tried to remember if he had seen Jackie move the doll again. He couldn't and that scared him even more. He jumped out of his seat and slowly back away from the doll.

"I'm getting away from her." He said out loud before pretty much pushing open the swinging door and running into the next room.

0o0o0o

Laurie smiled as she watched the scene in front of her. And how could she not, really? Her mother and daughter were smiling and laughing as they engaged themselves in one of Lucy favorite games—Patty Cake.

As she watched the two, Laurie reminded herself once more that this was why she was here. This was why she had finally brought herself to making this trip after all these years. She wanted her mother to meet Lucy and she wanted Lucy to meet her. She wanted them to get to know each other and talk…even if it was just a little bit. A little bit was a lot better than nothing, and Laurie wanted to make sure they both knew about each other.

That was what was important to Laurie.

It didn't matter that her father was angrier with her than he had ever been. That he had stomped off after scolding her and cursing in front of her daughter. She didn't care what he thought of her or Lucy right now…at least that's what she tried get herself to believe. But in the end couldn't.

"And put it in the oven for Baby and me!" Kitty and Lucy happily sang together finishing their game with giggles.

It hadn't taken the two of them to connect and Laurie was almost surprised by how fast Lucy warmed up to Kitty, then again she was her mother and Lucy's grandmother. Laurie only wished things had gone this way with her father as well. Sure it was a long shot, but crazier wishes had been made she was sure.

Laurie smiled at her cheerful daughter and then looked at Kitty, her smile fading away slowly, "Daddy's really upset with me isn't he?"

"Yes Laurie, he is." Kitty nodded.

"Well thanks for the sugar coding, Mother." Laurie said with deep sarcasm while resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

"Laurie, you're an adult. You have your own daughter. I don't think I have to sugar code anything any more." Kitty stated in a firm voice but when she saw her daughter look away almost shamefully, she continued, "But I also don't think you have anything to worry about."

Cautiously Laurie looked over at her sick mother, hoping she would continue.

"Your father won't stay mad at you for too long. He never could really." Kitty added.

The last few words brought a smile to Laurie's face. She always been a daddy's girl with Red, she always got what she wanted when she wanted it and in his eyes she could do no wrong. This time though, Laurie had a good feeling things wouldn't play out that way this time around.

"He just needs to take sometime to think about everything." Kitty went on, grabbing Laurie out of her thoughts, "You have to remember how crazy and difficult this past week has been for him."

"One minute he's in New York catching up with old war buddies, the next Steven's calling him up and telling him about me and then he flies home early only to find Eric and all of his friends are staying here. And I can tell he hasn't been sleeping very much, who knows when or what the last thing he's eaten was." Kitty rambled on, worry starting to show in her voice. Her husband wasn't taking care of himself now, who knew how bad he would get when she was gone. Quickly she shook her head out of her concerns and went back to what she was talking to her daughter about, "Now his daughter's home with her own daughter that he never knew anything about."

"He just needs to take some time to himself and calm down a little." Laurie listened as he mother talked, "It's better for his heart this way too."

Another pang of guilt hit Laurie as she was once again remind that she was the cause of her father's heart attack all those years before. Her and Fez. Again. When they'd announced their marriage, done only to keep Fez in the country. And here she was with Fez's illegitimate daughter after being 'missing' for almost seven years.

It really didn't seem fair now that Laurie thought about it. Her father was always the one, and some times the only one, who saw the goodness that was buried deep, deep, deep inside her. Yet she never really did anything that would make him proud of her. Maybe having and raising Lucy by herself but now she realized that was a tough call.

"Laurie, honey." Kitty called out when noticed how silent the young blonde mother had been, "It's ok, everything going to be ok. Your father is going to come to his senses and soon he'll be welcoming both you and Lucy with open arms."

Laurie smiled at that thought before looking at Lucy who was still holding her Grandma Kitty's hand.

"Oh and he's going to be so proud of you when he sees what a good mother you are to Lucy here." Her mother went on to say, "It wouldn't take him very long to notice it either. I saw it almost as soon as you walked into the room with her."

The smile on Laurie's face grew and she was now fighting back tears that were forming in her eyes. Never before had she wished so much that she'd told her parents about Lucy sooner.

"Thanks Mommy." She managed to squeak out before giving her mother a hug.

Kitty smiled and returned the hug, trying to remember the last time her daughter had hugged her like this—not counting the welcoming hug they had exchanged minutes before. It had been a very long while.

"Ok. That's enough talk about your father." Kitty said after the two women pulled out of the embrace, "I wanna spend some more time talking to my granddaughter."

0o0o0o

The cold winter air blew another chilling breeze causing Jackie to shiver slightly and pull her jacket closer to her. She was now wishing she had put on her gloves before grabbing the cold beer cans from the fridge and then coming out into this freezing weather.

As she walked farther away from the patio and closer to the driveway, Jackie saw the man she'd considered her father for years now and shook her head while walking closer to him. He was exactly where she knew she'd find him. Under the hood of the immobile Vista Cruiser. What had her moving her head from left to right was the fact that Red was out here in this cold without a jacket or even a vest.

"Do you want me to bring you out a jacket?" she asked from behind him in a soft voice so that she wouldn't startle him.

"No." was the quick response she received.

"Aren't you cold?"

"No."

There was a silence that fell over the duo. Jackie was trying to figure out what would be the best way to approach the much needed to be talked about subject. Should she just come out and talk about it head on or slowly build up to it?

"Do you wanna talk?"

"Jackie, in all the years you've know me when have I ever wanted to talk?" Red answered Jackie's question with his own, all the while never looking up from the engine.

She knew how true that was and she nodded her head along in agreement, "That's true." She paused, "Do you want a beer?"

This time Red looked up and over at the small young woman, he saw the two beer cans in her hand and gave the slightest of smiles.

"Now that's something I'll rarely turn down." He said aloud.

"I know." Jackie smiled an almost evil-ish smile at the older man's out stretched hand that was just waiting for one of the beers, "Which is why you'll get the beer _after_ we talk."

The small grin on Red's face soon dropped and disappeared only to be replaced by a well known scowl.

"Forget it." He muttered and moved his attention back to the vehicle, "I'm not even thirsty."

Jackie rolled her eyes behind his back and placed the two canned beverages on his work bench in the garage—being sure to keep them closer to her and not him. She knew Red was always a stubborn one, so she really wasn't surprised by his behavior now, and it did help her realize she'd be doing this the long way.

"How's it going with Vista Cruiser?" she questioned while looking over Red's shoulder trying to get a glimpse of what he was doing.

"Like the piece of crap it is." Red grumbled back an answer as he used his wrench to turn a part inside the car, "I'm just about ready drop the damn thing off at the town's dump."

Jackie shook her head trying to fight back her grin, "You always say that."

"I do not." He argued, straightening himself out and moving away from the car.

"Yes you do." Jackie insisted, "But then a second later when I start doing something it, you push me aside and take over, and long gone are your thoughts of giving up on this car."

"Yeah, well…not this time." Red replied in a tone that showed his defeat more than his anger like before.

Still Jackie wasn't convinced that he was serious this time around, but she decided to play along.

"If you say so." She said in almost a singing tone of voice.

Red raised a suspicious eyebrow that only seemed to rise up higher when Jackie began to make her way to the old car. He wondered what she was up to.

With a smile playing across her lips, Jackie walked to the Vista Cruiser and looked inside the opened hood. Scanning her mismatched eyes over the various parts, Jackie suddenly noticed something near the carburetor. She reached over for one of Red's tools and then began to tinker with the piece.

"So I'm guessing you know about Laurie's little surprise, huh?" she asked, following his example of never looking away from what was under the hood.

Red continued to watch Jackie's actions, his angry scowl gradually turning into a more curious one. He hadn't thought about doing what she was doing now, and he wasn't quite sure why he hadn't. Then mere seconds later Red did just what Jackie said he would do. He grabbed the tool from her hands, pushed her aside and took the task in his control.

Jackie had to smile as she was gently pushed out of the way, though she was still interested in his answer to her question.

"She's not that little." He commented, his voice sounding slightly muffled thanks to the fact that he was looking inside the car again, "The kid's gotta be at least three or four."

"Yeah." She agreed with a nod, "She's a cutie though, isn't she?"

"She…" Red stopped himself before he could give a proper answer, slowly he turned away from the carburetor and to the tiny brunette at his side, "Don't you have something else to do?"

Jackie looked inside the kitchen, through the glass doors, and found it empty except for Darling Daisy on the table. She had no idea where her date had run off to. And Laurie was probably still up with Kitty, so she wasn't need there. The only thing Jackie that needed to do, that she could think of was talk to Steven, but she still wasn't ready to do that.

"Yeah." She nodded again, "But it's funner being out here and bugging you."

Red rolled his eyes and moved his attention back to the Vista Cruiser just before mumbling a sarcastic, "Great."

Jackie's smile stayed in place as she quietly waited a few minutes before she moved on to her next question.

"Did Laurie tell you who Lucy's father is?" Jackie asked in a calm manner. She was pretty sure she knew the answer. The part of his reaction that she and Eric had caught was pretty big hint. However there was still that tiny bit of chance that he didn't know and maybe if she told him, he wouldn't get too upset.

"The foreigner." Red simply replied.

Jackie's eyes widened with surprise. That was it? The foreigner? No Sqanto, Alibaba, Tonto, sneaky, bastard, dumbass foreigner? Just the foreigner? And he hadn't even shouted nor did he seem all too angry when he said it. Suddenly Jackie realized what had really gotten Red so upset. It had nothing to do with Fez…well he didn't play the biggest role in it at least.

"Wait a minute." Jackie said stepping closer to him, "This isn't about Laurie having Fez's baby is it?"

"Six years Jackie. She'd been gone six years. Off in some place that must not have had telephones because she never called or sent one letter." Red said answering Jackie's question and forgetting about the vehicle in front of him.

"Did she tell you her whole story?"

"No. Because I didn't want to hear it." He replied as he walked away from the car and over to his work table in the garage, "I don't have to hear it to know what happened. She ran off to God knows where, did who knows what, met up with the foreign kid and then had his kid, all the while never contacting me or Kitty to let us know we were grandparents or to let us know that she was just ok!"

Jackie just stood in her spot, not saying a word, letting Red get out what he needed to.

"Where was she when you and Steven finally got in touch with her?" he asked, sounding abit calmer than he had seconds ago.

"Um…" Jackie stuttered, trying to come up with a good answer. She didn't want to tell Red Laurie had been in Milwaukee the whole time, especially since he hadn't heard Laurie's complete story—she wanted Laurie to tell him. "We uh…we didn't get in touch with her. She came on her own."

There was a loud clanking noise of metal hitting metal as Red angrily tossed the tool in his hands with his other tools. The noise startled Jackie and she gave a quick jump, realizing the answer she thought was the best really wasn't at all.

Not knowing what to do Jackie stood motionless, watching Red's back, waiting for him to speak.

"She knew this whole time." He said, still processing this new piece of information, "And still she never called and continued to stay away. Just like her brother."

"But Red, Eric _did_ call. And he came to visit when Mom was feeling well. He wasn't as bad as Laurie." Jackie was quick to defend younger Forman man from the older one.

Red shook his head turning around and running his hand over his face as he sat down on the bench, "They still stayed away when Kitty need them all because they were scared and didn't think they could deal with this whole cancer thing."

"They get their dumbass side from me." He shared with Jackie when he looked up at her.

Jackie sat herself down beside her surrogate father and place her small arm around his shoulders in hopes of comforting him.

"But you've been here with Mom, Red. Every step of the way." She reminded.

Red turned to look at Jackie and she noticed most of his gruff, tough anterior was gone.

"That's not the part I'm talking about, Jackie."

Jackie furrowed her brow just abit at Red's words. Then it hit her. If he wasn't talking about them staying away he meant the part about them being scared and not knowing if they were strong enough to deal with Kitty's cancer. And that meant that he, Red Forman, had been scared and worried that he wasn't strong enough to help Kitty through the cancer…maybe he still felt that way at times, she knew she did.

At the feeling of the tug on her heart, Jackie put her other arm around Red pulling him into a hug and not caring if he pulled away like he would do when she was younger. She had a pretty good feeling that he wouldn't do that this time. And she was right.

"I just wish Laurie would have called…at least once. Even if she had talked just to Kitty and told her about Lucy." Red added his voice remaining soft, "You know how Kitty's always felt about having grandkids."

Jackie nodded her head against Red's shoulder. Of course there was Little Betsy, but she wasn't technically a Forman though Kitty still loved her like one. Still Jackie knew how having her own grandchild to spoil and bake cookies for was one of Kitty's dreams.

"You know Red, I know your upset and you'll probably be upset with Laurie for awhile." Jackie began to say as she gently pulled out of the hug and looked at Red, "But I really think you should talk to Laurie and listen to what she has to say. Listen to her story. You may not want to hear it and you may not like some parts, but it's important that you do listen. For you, for Laurie, for Kitty, and now even for Lucy."

Red stared back at Jackie, taking in her words but not yet responding to them.

"Plus you know Laurie's always been your favorite." She added before quickly adding in one more thing, "Well right after me, of course."

The older man couldn't hold in his small chuckle at that last part.

"Alright Jackie." he agreed, "I'll think about it."

Jackie's grin grew, she knew he wouldn't think about it because his mind was made up already and he'd be talking to his daughter when he had the chance.

"Now." Red said clearing his throat and regaining his gruff tone of voice, "We've finished with all that mushy talking crap, so give me my beer."

Jackie let out a laugh before reaching over and retrieving the two beers, that thanks to the weather had remained in their cold state. She handed one to Red and kept one for herself.

The cracking sound of the beer cans being opened filled the air and was then followed by a silence as both parties took a sip from their cans.

"So," Red began after he finished his sip, "you and the other Looney Toones put an end to whatever it was you were fighting about?"

For quite a few seconds Jackie remained quiet. She didn't know what to say. Of course they hadn't resolved anything. Eric hadn't talked to Donna, she still hadn't talked to Steven, and they still hadn't heard anything from Randy. But Jackie couldn't tell Red this because then she'd have to explain the whole situation…then again he would find out eventually…but after everything with Laurie, the last thing he needed today was more drama.

"I thought you said we were done with all the _mushy talking crap_?" Jackie teased as an attempt to change the subject.

"No. We're done talking about the mushy talking crap _you _wanna talk about." Red informed with a stern look in his eyes, "Now it's my turn. Answer the question."

Jackie sighed as her try failed her, "Well sorta…"

"Sorta?" Red repeated looking at the young woman who was looking down at her beer can, "There's no 'sorta' Jackie, it's either 'yes' or 'no.'"

"Then…"she drifted off for a second or two, "No. No we haven't."

"No?"

"No." Jackie repeated with a shake of her and then took a deep breath as she got ready to explain, "It's just…it's not as simple as you think Red."

Red frowned slightly but didn't say anything and instead waited to hear what Jackie wanted to say.

"You see…it's…we…I've…" Jackie stopped her stammering and closed her eyes for a few seconds as she took in a deep breath, "I think I'm falling in love with your son."

Speechless and shocked, Red slowly lowered his beer can from his lips and stared at a very nervous looking Jackie.

'_This night just keeps getting longer and longer.'_ He thought to himself.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__And that would be Chapter 33 of "Two Weeks" Finally! Hope you liked!_

_BTW it looks like i won't be updating again until next year...lol doesn't that sound so far away haha. _

_Will Red talk to Laurie? Will we ever hear from Randy again? What will Red have to say about Jackie's confession? What will Eric say if he finds out? Will he find out? And is Darling Daisy really that scary? Confused you won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, please forgive my tardiness, and have a nice day!_


	35. It Does Sound Like A Lot Of Fun

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone! Woo! Can you believe it I posted on a Monday! And not at midnight so that it's technically Monday! Lol I'm so happy. Think that's a good start off for the New Year huh? I do want to apologize for not posting last week, but see I have a really good excuse. I'm trying to get ahead on my fics since I go back to school next week and i don't wanna jinx anything but so far….i'm doing pretty good. Yay! Oh and can you guys believe it's already been a year since I first posted the preview? And we're barely finishing the first week! Don't wanna make any big speeches about the 'one year anniversary' just yet because I wanna wait till next week when it'll be a year since I first started posting chapters, so I'm warning you now be ready for a long AN lol Thanks so much for all the reviews! I am so glad you all are sticking around and it's always nice to see some new readers! All of you make me smile and I love you all! Please remember I am not a doctor nor am I training to be one, will be taking part two of my anatomy class next week though…fun1 Gonna try for that 'A' again tho. Oh and please forgive the shortness of the chapter as well I had to split the chapter or else it would've been a really really long chapter and I've made you guys suffer enough of those. And next week they'll be a new chapter :-) Ok I'm starting to ramble so I'll cut off now. Thanks for everything you guys! Hope you like this chapter! Enjoy!_

* * *

_It had taken quite a few minutes for Kitty to compose herself and dry the happy tears that had formed in her eyes after hearing Hyde's answer to her first question; but once she had pulled herself together she was ready with her next question—much to Hyde's dismay. _

_He tired a total of six times, offering to take over until she had calmed herself down. His offer had been quickly shot down. _

"_So Steven," Kitty began to say trying to make her tone similar to the ones she heard famous reporter use on TV, "How do you see your future?'_

_Hyde didn't know whether to laugh at his surrogate mother's voice tone or roll his eyes at the question. He settled on a small combination of both, a smirk on his lips while he shook his head as avoided facing the camera once again._

"_I don't know Mom." He replied, "It's the future…a long time from now…I've still got awhile to plan it all out you know?"_

_Kitty nodded from behind the camera, "Yes, I know that." She agreed before adding, "But I also know that I may not be around to see most of your future. So I want to know how you picture it. That way I can make sure it's the right one for you."_

_His smirk turned into a small smile at Kitty's last comment, he was grateful she added that little humor along with almost morbid words right before it. It made things a little easier on him. _

_But it didn't help him very much with his answer to her question._

_Hyde had always hated those types of questions. What are you going to do with your future? Where is your life headed? Where do you see yourself in twenty years? He'd heard it in school when they usually ask for an essay response to it. He'd heard it from several adults after he'd graduated high school. He'd even heard it in a similar form from Jackie and things did not go well after it been asked._

_Yeah, he hated that question._

_But still this was Kitty that was asking the question and she'd played the cancer card…he pretty much had to answer the question now._

_He gave a heavy sigh before speaking, "I don't know Mom…really I don't."_

_Kitty sat patiently, watching Hyde and waiting for her answer. This caused Hyde to exhale another loud sigh. He knew she wasn't going to give up until he answered her question and he was really trying to speed through his five questions as fast as he could._

"_I guess…"Hyde scratched his left check, "Maybe expanding Grooves abit…a bigger store…maybe recreate the chain. Moving into my own place. One that's close to here of course." He quickly added before Kitty could say a word._

"_And later…probably much later on, a wife and one or two kids."_

_The smile that had broken out on Kitty's face when Hyde had said he'd live somewhere close by to the house, grew even more._

"_Oo a wife and kids. And just who would be this wife be?" Kitty asked teasingly, having a hunch that she knew exactly who he had pictured as his wife right now._

_And Hyde could see what she was up to so he decided to play along._

_He smirked, "A girl."_

"_What girl?"_

"_The right girl." Hyde answered still smirking mischievously, knowing a way that would get his mother to change the subject, "And by the way thanks to those two extra questions you asked right now, you're down to one question."_

0o0o0o

"What?" Red asked with his brow slightly furrowed; he wanted to make sure he'd heard right.

Jackie took a deep breath and repeated herself, "I think I'm falling in love with your son." She paused for a second or two, "And I'm thinking my _thinking_ is more than _thinking_."

Red actually did try to follow along to that second part of Jackie's statement but she'd lost him after the second 'thinking.' Instead he kept his attention on the first part, the part she'd said once before.

"Steven?" he asked, remembering the relationship the two of them were in together years ago.

Jackie slowly, almost as if she were frightened, shook her head no. And when he saw this gesture, Red nearly breathed a sigh of relief.

It wasn't that he had thought the two had made such a terrible couple or that he thought Jackie could do better than Steven. He loved and thought of Steven as a son, which was one of the reasons his mind had immediately gone to him when Jackie had spoken her words. But he had seen how badly Steven had hurt Jackie before especially when his stripper 'wife' had come into the picture. However, just as he saw Hyde as his second son he saw Jackie as his second daughter. And the last thing a father wanted to see was his daughter with a broken heart.

"Wait a minute…" Red said as he put the pieces together, "If it's not Steven…_Eric_?"

This time Jackie nodded her head in 'yes' in a much rapid manner.

Suddenly more of the little pieces were coming together, allowing Red to see and understand some of the things going on in his house.

"This is why it feels like North Korea when ever all of you dumbasses are in the same room, isn't it?"

Again Jackie nodded her head.

Red heaved a loud sigh, "Jackie, I'm gonna need to hear some words too."

"Sorry." Jackie said in a small voice.

"Well," Red started to say as he got comfortable in his seat, this was going to take awhile and he knew it, "How did this whole thing get started?"

"It was actually the night you came back home. Eric and I were in the kitchen and we were kissing when Donna and Steven walked in and then just totally…"She'd begun to explain only to be quickly cut of by Red as he held his hands up to stop her talking.

"I don't mean that." He said shaking his head, "I mean you and Eric…the last I remember you two never really got along."

"Yeah, I guess that's true." She agreed, "But that was before and now…Now everything's so different. In a good way. A really good way."

Jackie looked up from the beer can she was tracing her index finger on and was met with Red's frowning face. But this wasn't an angry frowning face it was more of a listening, concerned father frowning face and it made the corners of Jackie's mouth twitch before she carried on with her story.

"I guess it all started when Eric first got here. Steven was pretty much against him when he arrived and was giving him a hard time…he acted pretty childish. And through all of it I was mostly on Eric side helping him against Steven." Jackie explained, leaving out that detail of the thing she hadn't agreed with Eric about. The infamous 'Two Days Deal.'

Shrugging her shoulder's ever so slightly she went on, "We were spending a lot of time together and started talking about all kinds of stuff and I got to see what a great guy your son really is…I mean I'm sure Eric's always been a great guy but I guess I finally opened my eyes and saw it. And Eric seemed to have done the same with me. Then things just kind of clicked between us…much to both of our surprise."

Red continued to stare at the small young woman listening and taking in her words. He didn't know that this was the short version of the story of what had happened while he was away. He had no idea that Jackie was leaving out the parts about how it had been abit difficult to get Eric here in the first place, or how he'd run out during his first visit with Kitty, or the argument between Hyde and Eric that had taken place in the kitchen. And for now, Jackie wanted to keep it that way.

"It's really been fun spending time with Eric." Jackie added with a smile and laughed a bit at the memory of today's events with the two of them and Betsy, "Today we went on a first date at the mall with Betsy with us and he bought me this doll I've wanted since I was a little girl. And we've kissed some pretty…"

"Ah jeeze." Red groaned interrupted Jackie from going on, "I don't wanna hear that."

Jackie giggled, though what she was saying was true she'd added the part about the kisses just to make sure he was listening.

There was another deep breath before Red asked, "Jackie, why are you telling me this stuff?"

"Because I'm happy…and falling in love. And when a girls feel this way she has to talk about it!" she explained in a cheerful voice that toned itself down with her next statement, "And you're really the only one I can talk to about this."

The expression sketched onto Red's face told her to go on and so she did.

"I mean I can't talk to Eric about this yet because I could easily scare him off. And there's Brooke, but I don't know if we're that close to be talking about stuff like this." Jackie paused and felt a small wave or anger and annoyance wash over when she thought about the next two people on her list. She gave a quick eye roll before starting up again, "It would be completely pointless in talking to Steven and Donna about this, they completely freaked out when they caught Eric and me kissing in the kitchen."

"And it doesn't make any sense for Donna to act the way she did." Jackie continued before Red got the chance to gripe about the kiss that had taken place in the room he ate in, "She is engaged to Randy. The poor guy walked out after that and we haven't heard from him since."

"Oh and then Steven…Steven had the nerve to say that if he would have known that this was going to happen between me and Eric, he would've put a stop to it. Can you believe that?" she questioned, feeling the anger she'd felt when Hyde had said the words to them, all over again.

Red didn't say a word, he didn't know if he could believe it or not. It sound like Steven, but then again it didn't. He had to have had a reason for saying that…something that didn't include him still having feelings for Jackie…right?

"And then there's Michael and Fez," Jackie went on breaking Red out of his thoughts, "but…"

The older man lifted up both of his calloused hands to stop the rambling brunette once again, "No need to say it. I understand completely about those two."

Jackie smiled slightly, "I also thought that you should know about Eric and me…and I figured now was a good a time as any."

"Yeah, there sure are quite a few surprises coming out today." He muttered.

Jackie giggled but didn't say anything and instead decided to let Red continue to take control of their conversation.

"Look Jackie, I'm glad that your happy…we could use all the happiness we can get right now." He said in a somber tone before turning his voice into his serious, fatherly tone while looking Jackie in the eyes, "But I want you to remember that Eric is sometimes…most of the time…a dumbass."

"He gets it from you, right?" she asked playfully.

"Right." Red nodded and cleared his throat, "Which is why I want you to tell me if he does any kind of dumbass thing to you or that hurts you; and I'll stick my foot so far up his ass my shoe will drill it's way out through his head."

The grin on Jackie face grew, "Thanks Red."

Even though Jackie was still smiling and she'd even said a 'thank you,' the way she looked down at her beer can and kept her eyes there told Red that this talk of their still wasn't over.

"There's still more isn't there?" he asked pretending to sound like his gruff regular self.

"I'm…I'm just…"she struggled slightly, "I'm a little worried."

"About?"

"About…well, about _after_." Jackie explained now looking back at her father figure.

It didn't take long for Red to figure out what Jackie meant by the word 'after,' and once he did he felt his heart drop. He didn't like thinking about what would happen _after_ either. It worried him too.

"Oh right." He nodded and this time he was the one to look down at his beer can, "_After_."

"I'm worried about a lot of stuff that'll happen _after._ I've always been worried about that stuff." She continued on, "But now I'm worried about what'll happen with Eric and me. Sure nothing's official or anything but still…this whole time that we've been getting along and growing closer has happened now. While Mom's been sick."

By this time Red had shifted his gaze from the can in his hands to the young woman sitting beside him. He knew his thoughts and attention would be better off fixated on whatever Jackie was worried about than letting them drift off and think about what his life would be like _after_…if he'd still even be able to call it life.

Jackie looked at him and Red could easily see the worry and apprehensiveness in her multicolored eyes.

"What if…"she closed her eyes for a few seconds before reopening them, "What if every time Eric sees me he thinks about his sick mother? And how weak she was how she…wasted away." Jackie managed to keep herself from saying the d-word infront of Red, before relieving her biggest fear, "What if he can't even look at me after because of all those memories."

Red sighed deeply at the sadden girl infront of him, he awkwardly placed his hand over hers. All this emotional stuff was really starting to get to him—there was so much of it going on just tonight that Red thought it should cover the whole year.

"Jackie, you're really over thinking this whole thing." He firmly told her, "Listen, when Kitty and I first met it was during the war. We hadn't been together for more than a year when I left to Korea. And do you know how many times I've looked at her and seen those Korean men I spent a year shooting at or those fellow soldiers I'd sat around a campfire with, dying not five feet away from me or even the bullets that came flying towards me?"

Jackie remained mute.

"Never." Red answered, "The only things I ever see when I've ever looked at Kitty have been the things that made me fall in love with her and the things I love about her today. Nothing else." There was a small pause before he continued, "And I'm pretty sure being a dumbass isn't the only thing Eric got from my side."

Jackie's smile made a return and she leaned her head on her adoptive father's shoulder for a second time that night. "Thanks Red."

"Yeah well…" Red said as he started to feel uncomfortable again and so he cleared his throat, "Now are we done with all the mushy talking crap?"

"Yes." Jackie nodded with a smile, "Now we're done with the mushy talking crap."

Red stood up from his seat, "Good. Now I've just gotta go have one more mushy talking crap thing with Laurie."

As she watched Red walk over to the kitchen's glass doors Jackie jumped up from where she was sitting, her face showing her excitement with her bright smile.

"Your gonna go talk to Laurie?" she asked happily, she knew he would do it eventually but she never imagined he'd do it so soon.

"Yeah." Red nodded and turned around to look at Jackie, "Some yapping brunette girl who can hold flashlight better than anyone I know suggested I do it."

Jackie let out a small laugh before she walked over to where Red was so she could go back into the house with him.

"Come on, let's get inside." He muttered slightly pushing Jackie's small frame closer to the kitchen's side entrance, "It's getting colder out here."

That last comment caused Jackie to roll her eyes as she recalled his stubbornness and claims to it not being cold and him not needing a jacket only minutes before.

0o0o0o

Eric gave a chuckle at what the old woman on the television said.

After running out of the kitchen to get away from what he decided was a very possessed doll, Eric had come into the living room, sat himself on the couch and turned on the TV to one of the major networks when he saw it was time for one of his shows. _The Golden Girls_.

It was really his guilty pleasure show that he only watched when he was home on a Saturday night…which while in Seattle seemed to happen every Saturday night. But he didn't mind very much, he liked the show about the four older women. He laughed with them and occasionally ate a piece of cheesecake with them. If he had to choose a favorite he'd pick the mother of the group Sophia, but there was something about the Rose character that reminded Eric of his grandmother on his mother's side.

In the middle of one of Rose's never ending St. Olaf stories the kitchen door swung open and Eric scrambled with the remote before shutting off the set. He could only imagine the burns and comments that would come if anyone found out about the indulgence of his.

Once the screen had successfully turned black Eric turned to the entrance of the kitchen to see who'd come into the room.

"Oh hey Dad." He greeted sounding nervous but trying to remain cool, "What's up Dad?"

Red gave a deep Red Forman frown, "You better not screw this up."

Confused by his father's words Eric knitted his brows together as he watched Red continue to walk his way to and up the staircase. What was he talking about?

"Uh…good evening to you too, sir." Eric called back, not sure of what else to say.

He really had no idea what Red was talking about. Don't screw up what? There were plenty of things that he could screw up—thanks to the plenty of things he had already screwed up in his past—but he needed to know what his father was talking about now so that he would do his best not to screw up whatever it was Red didn't to be screw up and would probably end in a foot in the ass if he did.

"Hey."

The soft feminine voice pulled Eric from his thoughts and he looked over at the kitchen door once again this time seeing his smiling date.

Eric returned the smile, "Hey."

"What are you doing in here?" Jackie questioned, "I thought you were gonna be in the kitchen?"

"Uh nothing…I just thought I should give you and Red some privacy." Eric lied, not wanting to tell Jackie that he'd bought her a haunted doll, but now that he thought about his answer did seem like a very believable one. "So how'd it go?"

Jackie nodded and took a seat on the arm of the sofa, "It went good. We had a really nice heart to heart."

"Well that's impossible." He said with a slightly furrowed brow, "Because having a 'heart to heart' with require both people to have a heart and Red well…"

Before Eric could finish his statement Jackie swatted his arm in a hard but playful manner; a smile on each of their faces.

"Be nice." She ordered after giving Eric the slap, "Your dad does have a heart and you know it."

Eric nodded with his grin still in place as he looked down at his hands, "I know, I know." He assured, "But joking about Red not having a heart is like joking about him not having hair. It's just fun to do."

Jackie tried, she really did, but the giggle still managed to escape her lips.

"See?" he asked as he gestured his hands at her, proving his point.

It was a good few seconds before Jackie's and Eric's—who couldn't help but join after awhile—laughter diminished into quietness. But the silence they'd fallen into wasn't one with tension or any other form of being uncomfortable. And it didn't go unnoticed by either of them, just as it didn't go unliked either.

Her eyes remaining on Eric, Jackie gave smile, "He's gonna go talk to Laurie."

"What?" he asked in disbelief.

It wasn't that he didn't believe Jackie could do it, she was Red's favorite and if any of the basement gang could get through to hi it was her; but still they hadn't been out there that long! He hadn't even finished the _Golden Girls_ episode!

"Seriously?" he asked again and Jackie grinned proudly with a matching nod, "Wow…just wow. You know if I had gone out there instead of you, I'd still be out there trying to get him back inside. And you would have had to call that ambulance." He went on, "But for me."

The brunette laughed and nodded knowing, "Yea, you'd need a visit to the hospital to get your dad's foot out of your ass." She teased.

"Exactly!" Eric agreed with raised opened palms.

Jackie gave another giggle and that made her smile grow even more. She loved how he made her laugh. So many times. She wanted laughter in her life, not drama and heartache like her previous boyfriends had given her. Sure both Steven and Michael had given her some good times and plenty of laughs at first too, but then eventually they had hurt her. Eric had been hurt by Donna too. Maybe because he knew what it was like to be hurt, maybe he wouldn't hurt her. Maybe…

"Thanks Jackie." Eric said breaking Jackie from her thoughts.

She shook her head trying to remember what he'd said before, if he even had, but couldn't come up with anything, "I'm sorry what?"

"I said thanks, Jackie." he repeated with a smile as he paused, "And I mean thanks for a lot of things…not just this Laurie thing. I mean really, I don't think I…any of us would be able to do all the things you have."

Jackie smiled slyly, "Sure you would have. You just wouldn't have done it as well as I did it."

"True. Very true." Eric nodded with a chuckle, and then suddenly he stopped and looked at her.

She was looking back at him, her own smile plastered across her lips and she looked just beautiful. It was some time before he managed to tear his eyes off of her, and once they were he looked down at his hands. He wanted to share something with her but wasn't sure just how to word it.

"You know Jackie, ever since I got back here and saw you…there's been this question I keep asking myself." He started to say and then moved his gaze back to the petite young woman beside him.

"When did the devil turn into an angel?" Eric asked, his tone sounding both teasing-like and at the same time truthful

"I don't know." Jackie tilted her head, "When did Yoda turn into Luke Skywalker?"

The _Star Wars_ geek in Eric quickly made an appearance as soon as the question had left Jackie's mouth; he sat himself up in a straight up position and pointed his index finger at her—as if it would help with the point he was going to make.

"Now see that could never happen." He stated as he wagged his finger slightly, "Because Yoda is the one who taught Luke the ways of the Jedi. Not the other way around. If Yoda did turn into Luke Skywalker that would mean he would no longer be the Jedi Master and instead would have to learn his own teaching…but I guess technically they would be Luke's now since…"

By the time Jackie had let out a few giggles and was still shaking her head as Eric continued to ramble on, "Eric, just shut up."

Eric did as he was told, but as soon as his mouth was closed a playful smirk appeared on his face.

"You know there's only way to do that…remember?" He asked still smirking at the memory of the quick 'shut up' kiss they had shared before Laurie and Lucy had gotten here, "And I believe you Fair Lady, still owe me that token of gratitude."

"I believe you're right, Good Sir." She replied before scooting off her seat on the sofa arm and into the small gap between there and Eric.

The couple locked eyes with each other, her mismatched eyes looking into his green and his green looking into her mismatched ones, as they leaned in closer and closer to each other until their lips finally touched. It was a gentle kiss, that started and stayed on the lips only before they added their tongues. However even then the kiss remained soft and kind—though of course the feelings of desire come from both parties was not ignored in the lip lock.

"Wow." Eric said breathlessly when they pulled out of their kiss, it seemed like ever kiss with Jackie always left him breathless. Just being around her sometimes left him breathless. "This has been a really 'wow night,' huh?"

Jackie smiled and nodded, equally breathless, "Yeah."

"So…" Eric began to say, ready to continue with their date, "What do you wanna do now?"

"Well…" she said as she pretended to ponder over the question, she knew exactly what she wanted to do, "We could go upstairs."

Eric's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he heard Jackie's answer and the almost seductive tone she used to say it in. That was the last thing he expected to hear from her. It was a surprise, but a good one. A really _really_ good one.

"Really?" he asked, excitedly and with his voice starting to go up high, luckily he caught it in time and quickly cleared his throat, "I mean, really?"

Jackie let out another giggle as she nodded, "Yeah, I thought we could go up there and…listen outside your parents door to hear Red's talk with Laurie."

A blank look suddenly appeared on Eric face. He blinked his eyes a few times as he did his best to come up with words that could pass as a response. It took a couple of seconds but he soon came up with something.

"That is not what I had in mind." He truthfully admitted before a grin spoke his serious expression he was trying hard to keep, "But it does sound like a lot of fun."

Clearly up for the idea Eric leapt off the sofa and grabbed Jackie's had to pull her up to her feet, earning him another giggle from her. Once they were both on their feet they made a quick dash up the living room staircase.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__There you go Chapter 34 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_BTW is it weird that after I wrote that last sentence I got a little sad? Cuz Eric and Jackie ran up the staircase just like Red and Kitty did…not for the same reason but still? Maybe it's just my emotions, finished watching one of the saddest House M.D. eps before I finished up this chapter._

_How will Red's talk with Laurie go? Will Jackie and Eric get caught listening at the door? Is listening at the door the only plans Jackie has for when they go upstairs? Will Eric get his goodnight kiss? When will Laurie tell Fez about Lucy? And where the heck is Randy? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until then, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	36. I Couldn't Resist

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello All! Yay! Aren't you guys excited? I posted on a Monday! Sure it's really late on a Monday but it's still a Monday! Yay! Lol Sorry about not posting last week, I had every intention to but that was the same day my classes started and I really didn't wanna feel the rush and stress so early on so I decided to skip the week. Hopefully though this long chapter makes up for it, apparently sort chapters for this story don't go very well…or maybe it was just last chapter what ever it is I hope you all enjoy this chapter a lot more. Um couple of notes as always. First off I am not a doctor nor am I training to be one, I haven't even seen an episode of House MD in like five days, because I finished my DVDs and need to buy the new one but can't cause my parents said they'd get it for me for my birthday, but that's soo far away! Ok not really it's less than two weeks away but still! Anywoo I digress. Second note, can you believe it has already been a year, well more than a year since I first started posting this chapter and we have officially now ended the first week. WOW! I would like to take a few seconds to thank all of you who have taken the time to read this story, esp those who have stayed with it since the beginning, you all continue to inspire me and this story would probably been left in my USB if it wasn't for you all. So a hug THANK You and many cyber hugs! Third I hope you all enjoy the chapter and if you can please review and lemme know your thoughts even if you're a first time reviewer for the fic! Thanks for all the support once again you guys, you're all awesome. Hope you like this chapter, please review if you can and Enjoy!_

* * *

"_What made you want to make this video, Steven?"_

_As Kitty asked her question from behind the camera, Hyde continued to look annoyed infront of it—still trying to avoid eye contact with the device._

"_I don't know…I wanted to make the video cuz… I had nothing better to do." Hyde joked with a smirk playing on his lips._

"_Steven."_

"_You know why Mom." He replied in a mumbled response after he sighed a heavy sigh, "I told you remember?"_

_Kitty nodded, "I know, I know. But the kids who are watching this video don't know. So why don't you share it with them?"_

_Another loud exhaling breath left Hyde and he shifted in his seat slightly, keeping his eyes off the lens of the video camera, "I wanted to make the video so the kids…"_

"_What kids?" Kitty quickly interrupted._

"_Uh…the kids watching this video." He answered giving his mother a puzzled expression, she had just been talking about them not a minute ago! And besides what other kids were there?_

_Kitty gave a smile, "Why don't you address them instead of me."_

_Hyde knew Kitty's words were more of an order than a suggestion. He was also aware that there would be no point in fighting it…and even if he did try to fight it he end up answering even more questions. He closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening them back up and looking at the camera—wishing once again that he hadn't left his shades down in the basement._

"_I wanted to make this video so you kids, could get to know your Grandma Kitty better." Hyde started to explain to the camera and to whoever was watching this tape in the future, "Especially those of you who didn't get to meet her."_

"_I want you kids to be able to put more than a face to her name…be able to see what an amazing she is." He went on, using present tense because he couldn't bring himself to use the other, "And I kinda also did it for us. Me and the gang, Red too. I figured we could put on the tape whenever we were missing you and be able to see you and listen to you. Who knows maybe when we watch the tape we'll even get some help to a problem we're having."_

"_I guess…I guess I wanted to make the video for a lot of reasons." He concluded and gave a short pause, "But none of those reason included me being infront of the camera."_

_Kitty caught the pointed look her adopted son was sending her on camera before she let out a small giggle._

"_Oh well." She said with a shrug._

"_Yeah oh well." Hyde repeated, resisting the urge to roll his eyes, "Oh well you've had your five questions and now it's time to get back infront of the camera."_

_Hyde then proceeded to stand up and walk over to Kitty, ready to take his camcorder back. However Kitty wasn't ready to let go. Literally. She held onto the large camera and moved herself farther away from her son to keep him from reaching and grabbing the camera._

"_No, I haven't asked all of my five questions." The older woman protested while still shooting shots of Hyde attempting to retrieve his camera, "I only asked three."_

"_Yeah, but you wasted the other two when you were asking about my future and Angela." He reminded_

_A grin broke out on Kitty's face, "How did you know I was talking about Angela?"_

_Hyde froze and he stopped trying to get the video camera back, he just stared back at his smiling surrogate mother looking like a deer in the headlights._

"_See? Now that's six questions."_

_0o0o0o_

Down in the basement, the scene taking place looked very similar to one that use to take place almost everyday in the room years ago—adding and taking out a few people of course.

Hyde was lounged back in his old kitchen chair, his arms crossed as usual. To Hyde's left on the couch were Kelso, Brooke, and Donna; in that order.

Kelso was grinning one of his doofus like smiles as he watched the TV screen in front of him and kept his right arm over his wife's shoulder. Brooke was enjoying being close to her husband and she leaned her head against his shoulder, tuning in and out of the show on the television set every so often. All the while Donna sat beside the couple but keeping a good amount of distance between them, her arms crossed over chest as she glared angrily at the television as if it were Tom and Jerry's fault that she hadn't heard from Randy.

The adults had turned on the cartoon for Betsy when she'd come home from her shopping day with Uncle Eric and Aunt Jackie. However not two minutes after the opening titles of the first _Tom and Jerry_ cartoon had started, the littlest Kelso brought out her new game and begged her Uncle Fez to play with her. Of course she didn't have to beg very much.

"Aye! This is not fair!" Fez whined from his seat on the floor infront of Betsy, "My hippo is never hungry! I always get the hippo that is on a diet!"

The foreign man's cries caught the attention of his friends and they each turned their heads in the direction of where Fez and Betsy were sitting on the floor with the _Hungry, Hungry Hippo_ game between them.

Fez didn't see his friends interested expressions—some were wore it more than others—behind him and so he continued with his griping.

"Even the Hungry Hippos who are not playing have eaten more than my hippo! Every time I feed it, it just spits it back out!" he turned his head to look at his friends a serious look on his face, "I think he may have a problem."

That earned him a good chuckle form Hyde and a giggle from Brooke. Kelso looked at his friend with his own look of concern, for the hippo, and Donna rolled her eyes before turning back to the TV.

Betsy let out her own innocent laughter when she saw her uncle's face.

"I win again!" she shouted happily and then clapped her hands with excitement—something she must have picked up from her Aunt Jackie.

Fez looked back at the small girl and knitted his brows close together while trying to keep his voice serious and intimidating, "Yes, yes you won. Again. But this time you won…a visit from the Tickle Monster!"

There was a loud playful squeal released even before Fez had reached his little partner in crime—and Hyde wasn't quite sure which one of them had let it out, but he still continued to watch the scene unfold infront of him.

Fez captured the little girl in his arms before attacking her ticklish spots under her arms with his nimble fingers. Soon a series of happy carefree giggles came out Betsy mouth while she squirmed and tried to escape the Tickle Monster's grip. Fez's own laughter could be heard during the time as well.

As Hyde watched the two he couldn't help the grin that was creeping up on his lips. Fez would make a great dad to Lucy. Forman was right, Laurie had nothing to worry about there. Sure, he was probably gonna be upset for not knowing sooner but that would quickly pass and he'd be laughing and playing with his own little girl. Fez was a big kid himself and that would probably help the situation. In fact the only problem Hyde could see about Fez being a dad was that he'd now have to share his candy with the little one.

"Hyde, you're smiling." Brooke pointed out, smiling her own smile and breaking Hyde from his thoughts.

"Huh?" he asked slightly confused by the fact that he now had three pairs of eyes looking at him, "No…no. I wasn't smiling."

Donna's frown deepened, "Yeah, you were. What's up with you?"

"Nothing." Hyde answered almost too quickly.

He couldn't tell them about Laurie and Lucy—especially with Fez in the room. Well he could have, after all he and Laurie were never close so he had no problem there, but it just wouldn't feel right. And plus he was pretty damn sure when Laurie did tell Fez it would be one hell of a show and he didn't wanna miss that. It was bad enough he was missing the one with the Formans.

"Nothing's going on. Can't a guy just smile?"

"Yeah…"the blonde replied not sounding convinced at all, "But you're Hyde. You don't smile."

Behind his shades Hyde rolled his eyes at Donna's comment, but before he could respond Kelso jumped in with his own words.

"Hey, that's not true Donna. I've seen Hyde smile plenty of times." He argued, "Like…ha ha. Like whenever we were…"

The dopey grin that had made an appearance on Kelso's face soon dropped to the floor as he realized what he was about to say. The only times he could remember seeing Hyde smile was when all of them were sitting in the basement…_in a circle_.

"Hyde, man if you're smiling cause of why I think your smiling, you gotta get outta here." Kelso ordered in a very serious and un-Kelso way, "I don't want that stuff around my baby girl!"

Releasing a slight chuckle at Kelso's facial expression, Hyde looked over at where the man-pretty man was pointing and saw Betsy still trying to free herself from the raft of the Tickle Monster.

"Don't worry man…it's nothing like that." Hyde assured looking back at those on the old sofa, "The kid's my godkid and besides I'm done with…_circles_."

Hyde's words were words that three of those in the basement never thought they'd hear Steven Hyde say—Fez even stopped tickling Betsy when he heard them—they were also words that confused one of the members of the sofa group.

"Circles?" Brooke asked perplexed

Kelso ignored his wife and even unwrapped himself from their embrace so that he could move himself to the edge of his seat, "Seriously dude? You're like done, _done_?"

"Yeah, man." Hyde said with a shrug, he really didn't see the big deal bout it, he hadn't been in a _circle_ for a few years now.

"No!" Fez said in complete shock, his eyes and face matching his astonished tone.

Hyde gave a slight laugh, "Yeah."

"You're lying." Donna accused.

"I'm not lying Donna." Hyde firmly stated; he was now getting annoyed at both the fact that his friends were having such a hard time believing him and at the bothersome and difficult way Donna was acting.

The tall blonde remained unconvinced, "If you've been out of _circles_ for so long why haven't you told any of us?"

"Just didn't seem important." Hyde retorted with yet another shrug of his shoulders.

Brooke tried to follow along, she did, but without knowing what a _circle_ was she was completely lost. And so she decided to try again.

"What the heck is a _circle_?" she asked no longer looking just at her husband but at the others in the room as well.

This time it was Donna who ignored the librarian's question and came up with her own.

"So if you're smiling because of a _circle,_ what are you smiling about?"

"I told you, nothing." Hyde repeated himself, "I'm just smiling, alright?"

"Yeah…well stop it!" Kelso practically shouted in a tone he tried to make sound demanding and tough but instead sounded more like scared and frightened. "It's freaking me out!"

"Yes. It is scaring me too." Fez informed in his own shaken tone. Hyde looked over at the foreigner and just to scare him even more, made his smile grow, "Ayyee!"

Hyde shook his head as he stood up from his seat, "Alright well if you guys are done trying to figure out why I'm smiling, I'm gonna get started on dinner." He informed already heading for the stairs, "Anyone wanna come with me to _McDonalds_?"

"Oo me! Me!" Fez exclaimed just before jumping up in the air with his hand raised up high, "But I sit shot gun _and_ I want a Happy Meal! They are giving _Hot Wheels_ toy cars." He informed with a shy smile.

"Ah!" Kelso yelled out clearly showing how excited he was, "Get me one too! No wait four, get me four."

Simultaneously Donna, Brooke, Hyde, and even Fez turned their heads to the kettle head of the group each of them with their own curious frown. Betsy on the other hand thought her father's idea was a good one and was bout to ask for the same thing when he started explaining himself.

"What?" Kelso asked as he took notice, "Those burgers are really small! And the more meals the more cars!"

Shaking his head again Hyde headed up the stairway, happy that some things about his friends never changed but also knowing that there was no chance in hell that he was getting the doofus four meals. Fez meanwhile, nodded and smiled in approval towards his friend before following Hyde up the wooden steps.

A few moments of silence passed after Hyde and Fez made their exit before Brooke turned her head to Kelso.

"Am I ever going to find out what a _circle_ is?"

Kelso turned to his wife with a frown that looked like one he would wear if she had asked him if he liked firecrackers.

"Uh it's a shape, Brooke!" he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world adding an exasperated lift and drop of both his arms.

0o0o0o

"So after I talked to Casey I called Uncle Marty and asked him to call you, Mom and find out anything he could." Laurie explained to her parents as the three of them sat in the master bedroom.

Red in the nearby armchair, wearing a straight face as he tried to taken in his daughter's story. Kitty remained lying in bed but this time had her granddaughter tucked under one arm as the little girl snuggled against Kitty's shoulder lost in her dreams. And Laurie stayed in her seat at the foot of her mother's bed.

"He called me back right after he talked to you…and he told me…and I…I just knew I had to get over here." Laurie continued trying to fight back the tears she hadn't expected to form.

She had already told her story to her brother and his friends downstairs in the kitchen and she hadn't shed a tear then. But this time, this time it was different. This time she was telling her parents. Finally, after all these years of wanting to but being afraid to she was finally telling them everything she'd been through and done. The reasons she had been away from home for so long. And the fact that her father could still be upset and disappointed in her—which she knew he had every right to be—helped turn the facet to the waterworks.

Laurie looked to her mother, "I am sorry for not coming sooner Mommy…I am so sorry…"

"Oh Laurie." Kitty said already sounding close to tears, she hated seeing any of her children crying because it made her cry, and she raised up right arm for a hug since her left one was still around Lucy, "Oh come here honey."

Not having to be told twice, Laurie leaned down to embrace her mother while making sure not to disturb her sleeping daughter. She hugged Kitty and blinked a few more tears as she mentally wished she had hugged her more often whenever she was home.

"It's ok Laurie." Kitty assured in a soothing voice and gave a quick kiss to the top of her daughter's head, "It's alright. You and Lucy are here now…that's all that's important."

Laurie tightened her grip on her mother as she furiously nodded her head; that was exactly what she thought and exactly what she wanted to hear.

Meanwhile a few feet away Red continued to sit in the armchair and watch the scene infront of him while he let Laurie's story sink in. It was a lot to take in but he was glad Jackie had persuaded him into taking the time to listen to it. Because while it was long and just as the tiny brunette had said there would be there were parts he hadn't liked but it was informative and he did need to hear it and know about it.

Red cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of the two Forman women.

"You know Laurie, there's one thing about your story that I find almost unbelievable." He stated out loud.

As Laurie looked at her father, her eyes wide and watery with worry, Kitty shot her husband a warning look.

"I can't believe Marty actually had the guts to keep something like this from me." Red finished his thought with a small smirk.

Once she heard Red's mild joke Kitty let out a sigh of relief, she had been nervous about what he going to say, before she let out a small giggle. Laurie laughed a bit herself before she straightened herself out and looked at her father, bracing herself for the moment of truth.

"So does that mean you forgive me, Daddy?" she asked in a small but hopeful tone of voice.

Red stared back at Laurie noticing that the innocent, childlike appearance he usually saw when he looked at her wasn't the only way he saw this time around. This time he saw some of the innocence but he also saw worry, concern, maturity. And that's when he realized it. Laurie wasn't that little girl with pigtails and ribbons in her hair, playing with her baby dolls in her room, anymore. She now had a real baby to take care of, she was an adult.

There was a slight pain in Red's heart as he noticed this. After all no father wants their little girl to grow up. But every father knows they have to.

"Laurie, you were gone for well over the year you had told me you'd be gone for before you left." Red began to say keeping his voice firm but soft at the same time, "You never contacted me or your mother, not even when you found out about her. There was no phone call or quick letter to let us know you were ok let alone that you had a daughter."

The young blonde woman just nodded her head and Red went on.

"But you're my daughter and now you have your own daughter, with the foreign kid…but she's still your daughter and…my granddaughter." There was a tug at the corners of the elder Forman's mouth and it soon turned into a slight smile, "I never could stay mad at you, how do you expect me to be mad at you and my granddaughter?"

Laurie quickly returned the smile before she stood up and walked over to Red to embrace him in a tight embrace. As soon as his daughter's arms were around him Red wrapped his arms around her holding her just as tight as she held onto him.

Sniffling and letting her tears fall on to her father's shoulder Laurie spoke in a small voice, "I love you, Daddy."

"I love you too, Kitten." He replied trying to hide the emotion in his voice and then turned his head to place a quick kiss on her cheek.

Kitty smiled as she watched the scene in front of her, it had played out almost exactly how she had told Laurie it would. She knew her husband wouldn't stay angry or hold a grudge over Laurie or her daughter, but even though she knew this scene would happen she was very happy when it was set into motion. Now Red would be spending some time getting to know their granddaughter too. Kitty was sure that he'd love her, after all in the short time she herself had spent with the little girl Kitty could already see that Lucy was a wonderful little girl.

Kitty found herself turning away from the father daughter moment and looking over at the newest addition to the family, wishing she had slash could spend more time with her. She blinked back a few tears and then looked back at Red and Laurie hoping to stop her tears.

Glancing up and at his wife, Red noticed the glassiness in her eyes. Right away he knew the reason behind the tears, and the grip Kitty seemed to have around their granddaughter was a pretty big hint—Red was actually surprised the kid hadn't woken up.

The couple caught the other's eyes and Kitty gave a weak smile that Red returned before unwrapping his left arm from Laurie and reaching it out towards Kitty. Giving an even feebler laugh Kitty grabbed her husbands hand and gave squeezed it as hard as she could—but that wasn't very strong—before Red tightened his gasp on her hand—making sure he wasn't holding on too tight in fear of hurting her.

As he held his daughter in one arm and his wife's hand his other hand, Red looked over at the child sleeping on his bed. Kitty was right, she did look a lot like Laurie when she was little and that made Red smile.

"You know she may be part foreigner," he started to say, "but I'm happy to see she takes mostly after you."

"Except for the brown eyes." Kitty reminded as Laurie and Red ended their hug but Red kept his hand holding Kitty's.

Laurie nodded as she sat back on the bed and smiled at Lucy, "And her love of candy."

Red cleared his throat as Kitty gave a soft giggle, "Um…speaking of Haji…he's staying here too."

"I know." Laurie answered with a nod.

Kitty knitted her brows together as she studied her daughter's face hoping to find the answer there, but didn't. "You are going to tell him about Lucy, right?"

Silence filled the room as Laurie watched her sleeping daughter's peaceful face while trying to figure out the best way to explain this. She didn't want to make and tell another long story but it wasn't that easy to explain.

Taking a deep breath Laurie answered her mother's question, "I wanted to…but now I…I'm not so sure…what do you think I should do, Mommy?"

"Honey, I think you should tell him." Kitty replied.

Red nodded in agreement, "And as surprising as it is, I think you should too." He paused and turned his head to the bedroom door, "What do you two dumbasses listening at the door think?"

Both Kitty and Laurie followed Red's eyes and looked over at the bedroom door just in time to see the door be pushed open by Eric as he walked into the room ready to share his thoughts on the subject. Meanwhile Jackie stood behind him, still out in the hallway, her hand covering her eyes. She had tried to stop him, she did really, but it was no use.

"We think you should tell him Laurie. I mean he's gonna find out eventually and…"Eric drifted off as he stopped in his tracks and his facial expression dropped to the floor before he looked over at his father, "And I just caught what you did, Dad. Good one, sir."

Jackie ignored both of the Forman men. Eric as he looked both embarrassed and frightened of what his father would do next and Red as he shook his head with a frown indented on his face as he looked at his son. Instead the former cheerleader kept her attention and eyes on the young blonde woman as she made her way into the bedroom.

"Laurie, when we talked downstairs you seemed pretty set on telling your parents and Fez about Lucy." Jackie reminded, wearing a slight frown because of the concern of her foreign friend mostly, "What happened?"

"I don't know." Laurie replied with a sigh, "I did wanna tell Fez, I planned on it…really I did. I know one she's going to ask about him and I want to be able to at least tell her that she'd met him. But now I'm…I don't know how he'll react and that worries me." She went on, looking at the faces of each those in the room. "I'm gonna tell him that he has a four year old daughter and just turn his whole world upside down. Really who knows what he'll do."

The room was quiet as the two couples listened to Laurie's words, their own thoughts and feelings taking place in their minds.

Kitty nodded along taking in what Laurie was saying and trying her best to understand where her daughter was coming from. Red was ready to accompany Laurie when she told Alibaba about their daughter—he'd also be taking his hunting rifle with him of course. Eric was feeling that weird sympathetic feeling towards his sister again and no matter what he did he couldn't seem to shake it off. And Jackie, while she could see where Laurie was coming from, knew there really wasn't anything to worry about with Fez—he could only stay mad at a person for a couple of hours, unless you stole or ate his candy then it could be a whole day before he talked to you again.

"And it's not that I'm worried that Fez will hate me. Because really that's the last thing on my mind." The young mother continued, "I'm worried about how he'll feel about Lucy. She doesn't deserve to get hurt, especially because of something I did, something I kept from him. I don't want her getting hurt."

Laurie watched her sleeping daughter again—ignoring the other eyes upon her—and absently ran her hand over the little girls back. Suddenly Kitty reached over her hand, that had seconds ago been holding Red's, and took hold of her daughter's hand. In response Laurie looked up and over at her as she began to speak.

"Laurie, one of the worst parts about being a mother is seeing your baby get hurt. Whether it be a skinned knee or heartbreak from a crush." Kitty began to share, "Seeing them hurt, hurts you. And so you try to keep them from being hurt, you protect them, you worry about them. You worry about them not looking both ways when they cross the street, you worry about them when they put their heart on the line, you worry about them when they stay away from home for so long."

Kitty took a small pause to make sure Laurie was paying attention, "But honey, sometimes all those worries turn out just to be worries and everything works out just fine. I know you're worried about Lucy, about what'll happen if she meets Fez but aren't you still worried about what'll happen if she never meets him?"

All Laurie could do was nod, that was the exact debate going on in her head. well that and that tiny bit of her that feared Fez would try to take Lucy away from her because she was an unfit mother, which he had every reason to think the last time they'd scene each other she could barely take care of a plant, but she'd changed now and Lucy was her life; she couldn't lose her.

Of course this didn't sound very much like something Fez would do, it was more of something her guilty conscious had made her think of, and so she pushed it into the back of her mind and concentrated on the debate of which could cause more pain to Lucy having her meet Fez now or later…or even never.

"You know," Red called out tearing Laurie from her thoughts, "mothers aren't the only ones who do alotta worrying."

Laurie gave a slight smile at her father's words as she started to feel guilty once more. But this time it wasn't guilt for not telling either of them about Lucy it was guilt for making them worry so much about her. She had never taken that into consideration, she didn't think they even thought of her after the first three years she was gone. Not knowing what else to do and not wanting to do anything else, Laurie leaned closer and put one arm around Red's neck and the other around Kitty's shoulder so that she could chug them at the same time and when she felt their arms around her she tightened her grip.

Looking on at the scene was a slightly misty eyed Jackie who was wearing the tiniest of smiles and beside her stood Eric with a blank look on his face.

Eric shook his head in disbelief, "She's home for not twenty four hours and already she's back to being the favorite!"

"Ehem, second favorite remember?" Jackie remind as she gestured towards herself.

"So what with Hyde that makes me like…"he took a few seconds, still shocked by his placement as his parents favorite, "_Fourth_?"

The tiny brunette next to him shrugged her shoulders, "Actually now that there's Lucy…"

"Oh come on!" he almost shouted causing Jackie to cover her mouth as she tried to stifle giggle.

Meanwhile Laurie pulled out of the hug with her parents and replayed their words to her again in her head. It was good advice, and she'd wished she had held onto the other advices they had given her when she was younger. She went back and forth trying to imagine and come up with every possible consequence and outcome that could happen if she told Fez and the ones that could happen if she didn't. In the end she knew what she had to do. Laurie wanted Lucy to at least meet her father now instead of having questions about him for the rest of her life; and who knew maybe everyone would be right and they really would hit it off.

"I'm gonna tell him." She shared out loud and could almost hear the sighs of relief, "But…not today."

Kitty frowned at her daughter, "Laurie…"

"I am going to tell him mother. Soon. Just not today. I'll tell him while I'm here, but I don't wanna do it today." Laurie cute her mother off and began to explain her reasons, "I don't want Lucy getting scared from meeting so many people all in one day. I'll tell Fez tomorrow." Maybe.

"Well Laurie, I guess that does sound reasonable." Kitty replied, Laurie explanation hitting Kitty's newest soft spot, "But honey, if you don't tell Fez today you and Lucy will have to stay away from him…hide from him. I don't know how you're going to do that."

"Your mother's right." Red stated with a nod as he shifted in his seat, "I am housing the whole Beatles group here."

Eric's face lit up as he heard what his father said, "The Beatles? Really Dad? They're pretty cool…"

"Not to me." Red retorted and Eric's happy smile dropped.

"Don't worry about us." Laurie said, ignoring her brother's actions, "Lucy and I will just stay in my room for the rest of the night."

In that moment the occupants of the bedroom froze. Jackie felt the most awkward, since she was the one who now stayed in that same room Laurie was talking about. And Eric was ready to back out of the room itself. Red and Kitty looked over at the other, neither one of them wanting to be the person to tell Laurie the matter of the situation.

Finally Red decided to speak up and inform his daughter in the fashion of pulling off a Band-Aid—quick and hopefully painless.

"Kitten," the elder Forman began as he cleared his throat, "Jackie moved into your old room a few years back."

"Oh." Was the only thing Laurie could think of.

Part of her was upset, wondering how the yapping midget cheerleader could be living in her room now. And then there was the other part of her who slightly understood. She had been away for along time, she couldn't really expect her parents to leave the room as a personal shrine to her…she had hoped they would but couldn't expect them too.

"Laurie, honey, it was when I was really sick." Kitty started to explain in a soft voice, "Jackie moved in to help me and your father and Steven out."

Laurie only nodded and changed the subject, she really didn't want to talk about the childhood bedroom no longer belonging to her. "Well then Lucy and I will just go to a motel."

"You are not taking my granddaughter to a motel." Kitty said firmly, tightening her grip on the small girl, before an idea entered her mind, "Oh I know, you and Lucy can stay with Jackie tonight."

"What?" everyone seemed to ask out loud and if they didn't say it out loud their facial expression was doing a good job of getting that message across.

"Sure, I'm sure it'll be fun and this way we can leave everyone else who isn't in this room in the same places that they've been sleeping so they won't know Laurie and Lucy are even here." Kitty went on, "Steven will stay in his room, Fez is down in the basement, Donna and Randy will keep sleeping on the sofa bed, and Michael, Brooke, and Betsy will still be in your old room, Eric. And you Eric honey, can sleep in the basement where Steven and Fez are…well Fez really, because Steven will be in his room. And Laurie you and Lucy can stay with Jackie in Jackie's room which used to be your room. Is everyone ok with that set up?"

The room remained silent, but the only one still looking both confused and still slightly astonished was Eric. The two girls who were being told to share a room really didn't seem to bothered or effected by it at all. Red still seemed abit puzzled by his wife's explanation and so he looked over at her.

"I'm still sleeping in here with you, right?" he questioned.

Kitty smiled at him and nodded, "Yes, Red."

Red returned the nod, "Then it's alright with me." He announced causing Kitty to giggle and shifted herself abit so she could rest her head on his shoulder.

Hearing his parents talk about sleeping their room gave Eric an idea and he wasted no time in sharing it.

"Hey wait, why don't Laurie and Lucy stay in here with you guys instead?" he suggested, "You can spend some more time with Laurie _and your granddaughter_, and then everyone else can just keep there usual sleeping arrangements."

Jackie was shaking her head and smiling because she knew what he was up to. Laurie frowned at her brother with confusion because she didn't know what he was up to. And Red who also knew what he was up to, glared a steady glare at his son.

"Oh sweetie, that would be a great idea." Kitty told him, her head still on her husband, "But with me getting sick in the middle of the night, I don't want to be constantly waking up Lucy or Laurie."

Eric nodded showing that he understood but was really trying to think of another reason to keep this sleeping arrangement from actually happening. He didn't want to sleep with Fez, he wanted to sleep with Jackie! And he wasn't talking about sleep like _sleep_ he really meant sleep. Like they'd done last night, that was nice, really nice.

"But…but you can't have both Laurie and Jackie sleeping in the same room." He tried again.

"Why not?" his father asked.

Eric swallowed, "Because there'd be too much evil in the room and…something could happen."

He knew his answer was weak. He couldn't help it. He was starting to see that neither Laurie nor Jackie were complete evil. But just because they weren't complete evil didn't mean they wanted to share a room with each other. With that idea in his head, Eric swiftly turned himself to face both young women.

"Come on, you guys…you don't really wanna share the same room do you?" he asked in a hopeful voice.

"Why not?" Jackie asked fighting back a smile as she shrugged her shoulders, "We shared Michael's van that time at Van Stock."

Laurie nodded her blonde locks in agreement, "Yeah and if I could handle her then I can handle her now." She said to which Jackie began to glare at, causing Laurie to roll her eyes, "Relax, I meant because she doesn't seem so bad anymore."

Jackie's glare quickly turned into a bright smile and Eric nodded along at his sister's words. She was right and he could relate to what she'd said…but he still had to get out of sleeping in that basement.

"But what about…" he began to say only to be cut off by his father.

"Eric, that's enough." Red declared in a firm voice as he pointed his index finger at him, "You can either sleep in the basement or sleep with my foot in your ass."

Eric nodded, "Basement it is then."

From the corner of his eye, Eric could see a certain brunette pixie giggling at his expense and so he turned around to catch her in the act. However when he looked at Jackie, she'd stopped her giggling but continued to wear her growing smile as she locked her eyes with his and then nudged her head slightly towards the exit of the room.

Instantly Eric got the message and nodded in agreement before deciding to be the one to announce their exit.

"Ok well since we've got the whole sleeping arrangement in order we're gonna go." He said to his family, "give you guys some privacy."

Red frowned in return, "So that you two can go back to listening at the door?"

"No, no. Not this time." Eric replied, "Scouts Honor."

Eric then proceeded to lift up his left hand with his three finger extended and his thumb and pinky finger bent, creating the proper Scouts sign…but with the wrong hand. Jackie was quick to notice and corrected him by pulling down his raised left and lifting up his right. Eric smiled nervously before he made the same sign with his right hand and then quickly grabbed Jackie's wrist making a dash for the door.

Kitty and Laurie both knitted their brows with confusion as Red watched the scene while shaking his head back and forth.

"I can't believe you went in like that." Jackie said as she laughed at the memory of the two of them getting busted for listening at the door.

Eric shrugged with the slightest of smiles on his face, "Yeah well it seemed to work out in the end. Especially for you."

"What do you mean?"

"Now you get to share your room with Laurie instead of me." Eric reminded, he was abit bother that it was only him who was trying to keep Laurie from staying with Jackie. He knew Jackie wasn't thrilled with the idea but she was letting it happen with out a fight.

Jackie looked up at him, "Eric, I don't wanna share my room with your sister."

"Right, but given the choice…which you were," he was quick to add, "you'd rather share your room with her than me."

There he went again, talking himself down. Jackie hated when he did that and she shook her head before explaining her actions or better yet, her non-actions.

"Look Eric, the reason I' ok with sharing my room with Laurie is because we're in the middle of our first date." She reminded and he nodded, "And so the next time you'll be allowed in my bed will be after our third date." She finished with a smile.

"Oh…ok." He said now understanding her reasons but then caught on to what she said, "Wait what? That wasn't part of the agreement…Was this like in that invisible fine print with my pieces of luggage?"

Jackie smiled and nodded, "And you know you can expect a few new pieces of your luggage soon."

"Really?" he asked hopefully.

"Yup." Jackie smiled and nodded.

Eric smirked in response, "So could I trade in those pieces for a night in your room?"

"Nope." Jackie smiled and shook her head.

With his own smile in place Eric shrugged his shoulders, "Had to give it a shot."

Keeping her smile in place Jackie took a step towards him, "You know we never did have our Good Night Kiss, so technically our date still isn't over."

"Very true." Eric nodded in agreement, "I'm sure we can probably get a good few more minutes in it too…"

"Eric." Jackie called his name getting him to stop talking, "Just because we're staying with in your parents house doesn't mean either one of us have a curfew." She reminded, "We're adults, not teenagers…the night belongs to us."

As Eric watched the brunette take another step, making the distance between them even smaller, he took a gulp and remained silent. He saw her smiling up at him and he wanted to smile back but it was like his face was paralyzed with shock. His could feel his heart racing as she neared him even more and kept her eyes locked with his. Eric opened his mouth and then…

"Hey Jackie! Eric!" Kelso's voice called from the living room, "Dinner's here!"

Having the moment ruined the way it was caused each of the two to smile, they knew they should have seen something like that coming. They were after all staying in a very, very full house.

Eric lifted a finger to make a point, "Ok, someone has got to tell them that the night belongs to us."

Laughing at Eric's statement, Jackie latched her hand on his arm and lead him to the staircase. They both wanted to continue their date, with just the two of them; but they both knew that even if they decided to go on with their date and ignore Kelso's calling they'd end up sitting in the kitchen eating whatever take food that had been brought in, with their friends. Either the guilt would get to them or some one would come up looking for them and bring them downstairs anyways.

0o0o0o

Dinner time really wasn't all too eventful but it did have a few moments. Like when Kelso pouted, stomped and did every other form of whining when he didn't get the blue Hot Wheels car and then made an even bigger fuss when Fez had gotten it. Fez ended up giving in a trading in his toy car for Kelso's along with half of handsome man's fries.

There was also the part during the meal time when Betsy asked who would play _Hungry, Hungry Hippos_ with her and her Uncle Fez, both Jackie and Eric volunteered; however they had expected to play later on like the next day, they didn't know what to do when the little Kelso disappeared into the basement only to return with the game and ready to play. They ended up playing at least five rounds with the little girl.

The subject of Laurie and Lucy remained unspoken of, but when Jackie and Eric had first entered the kitchen Hyde looked at them silently questioning them for some details. Jackie kept her mouth shut and pretended she didn't see Hyde's looks as she dug into the paper bags for her meal. Keeping his silence as well, Eric answered his adopted brother with a few message contained looks, and soon Hyde nodded with understanding.

The table was filled with random and fun chatter, just as a kitchen table that was seating a group of friends should be. However there was one guest who remained mute for most of the time. Donna. She was still upset about the events from last night and the fact that she still hadn't heard from Randy—that same fact had her worried abit as well. Though for the most part Donna had kept mostly to herself she had been caught smiling and even releasing a quick chuckle a few rare times.

These moments at the dinner table seemed to be the only time that they were all in the room together—even if they didn't want to be there—with the exception of Red and Kitty and now Laurie and Lucy. But that didn't diminish any of the moments, because it was during that time of the day that the old basement gang, with a few new members, got to reconnect, and laugh as they recalled old memories and created a few new ones.

That time spent at the table really flew by and no one seemed to realize how long they had really been sitting there. The group was really too busy enjoying themselves and so it came to a shock to each of them that it was already hours into the night. When the gang finally started picking up their takeout messes they headed off to their respectable sleeping areas—with the exception of Donna who went down to the basement for a little while longer.

Jackie and Eric made their way into the living room and walked towards the stairway. Each of them wished they had continued their date with just the two of them but neither of them regretted the decision to join their friends for dinner—especially since the evening had remained drama free for the most part. They very well could have continued their date for a few more hours but it had been a pretty long and eventful day, they were both equally tired.

"So," Jackie said as they lingered near the bottom of the staircase, "time for the awkward first date ending, huh?"

Eric nodded and smiled weakly, "Yup, just call me Mr. Awkward."

"That's not what I meant." Jackie argued looking at her date as she tilted her head to the side.

"I know, I know." Eric replied honestly as he nodded again and then looked at Jackie, "You know Jackie, I had a really good time with you today. I hope you did too."

The raven haired beauty nodded and smiled, "I did."

"You think we could do this again…maybe without the little chaperone, my disappearing sister returning, or fast food dinner with friends? Some time soon?" he asked hopefully.

"I think so."

Almost instantly a smile sprung to Eric face and that made Jackie laugh.

"You know...now that we're closing up our first date and saying goodnight," Jackie started to say as she climbed up on the first step from the floor and then turned back around to face Eric who remained standing off the staircase, "I think it's time for our Goodnight Kiss."

"Oh? Is it really time _already_?" he asked trying not to sound too anxious, but wasn't doing a very good job at it. Still it made Jackie laugh and he was falling more in love with that sound each time he heard it.

Jackie nodded a 'yes' and Eric took that as signal to move closer.

Once Eric's body was less a few inches away from Jackie's, he wrapped his arms around her tiny waist and she moved hers around his neck; their eyes on the other the entire time. They leaned closer slowly at first but when their lips touched the embrace went from slow and anxious to passionate and hot.

Eric held Jackie closer to him and Jackie tightened her arms around Eric, neither one of them wanting to let go or end the kiss.

It was a good few minutes before the couple breathless pulled away from the other's lips, keeping their arms around their date and the eye contact that had started the kiss.

"Goodnight." Jackie said in a soft voice.

Eric opened his mouth to give his own goodnight but as he watched her knew he wasn't ready to say goodnight just yet; so instead he leaned into Jackie and created another passionate lip lock.

Jackie didn't pull away or try to stop him, she saw the kiss coming but she didn't do anything to stop it. She wanted this second Goodnight kiss as much as he did and so she welcomed it with open arms.

"Sweet dreams." Eric told her once they had ended this kiss.

Jackie only nodded in response before she pulled Eric closer to her and used her lips to capture his in another ardent lip lock.

"See you in the morning." She said looking up at him.

Looking at the pixie with his eyes wide as he tried to catch his breath Eric wasted no time in starting up yet another fire filled kiss.

When their fourth Goodnight kiss came to an end Jackie stared at Eric as she waited for him to say some different form of 'goodnight.' Eric knew why the pair of beautiful mismatched eyes were looking at him but he couldn't think of any other type of 'goodnight.' He kissed her again because he wanted to kiss her again…he had to kiss her again.

"Um…don't let the bed bugs bite?" he tried.

Jackie laughed a soft laugh at his answer and she tore her eyes away from his to look upwards as she did. The broken eye contact lasted only a few minutes and then the duo were back to looking into each other's eyes.

"If we don't stop now, we could be here all night." Jackie informed.

A smug smile made its way to Eric's lips, "All nighters are pretty fun." Jackie smiled as she shook her head and Eric nodded as he saw her actions, "I know, I know. Enough kisses for _tonight."_

"Right." Jackie nodded with her smile still in place.

Carefully Jackie and Eric untangled themselves from the other and then slowly started to head to the places they'd be sleeping; Jackie in her room and Eric in the basement. However before Jackie took a step onto the next stair, Eric turned back around and caught her hand, causing her to look back at him.

"Goodnight Jackie." he said before he placed a quick but loving kiss on her hand, "Sorry. I couldn't resist."

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_**Author's Note: **__There you go! Chapter 35 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_What will happen when Laurie tells Fez about Lucy? How will Eric's night in the basement with Fez go? Will Laurie and Jackie sharing a room be as easy as they think? How will Kelso and his family react to the news of Laurie and Lucy? When will we hear from randy again? And what pieces of luggage will Jackie be giving Eric this time? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, have a nice day, and thank you all so much again!_


	37. I'm Awake!

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello All! First off I am soo very sorry for not updating at all last month! The days really got away from me there and in my defense February is the shortest month of the year…yeah I know there were still 28 days so that doesn't really help me. But I am truly sorry about the wait. Will try to keep that from happening again at least until finals lol Couple of notes as always. First of, thank you so very much for all of your very lovely reviews. It makes me so happy that you all are enjoying the story even after all this time! I love you all! Seriously 200 + You guys are awesome! I am very thankful! Second note, I know this chapter may seem a bit filler-ish but I had originally had three scenes planned for this chapter but I couldn't add the other two or else it would be way too long—even for me! Good news is, I have the next chapter already started now, so yay! And finally, please once again, remember I am not a doctor nor am I studying to be one. I am still watching House M.D., but am still not up to date…oh and yesterday I made the BIGGEST mistake and caught the last minute of a new episode and they showed a preview for the next episode…oh my gosh I soo wanna see it but I can't! Oops rambled there abit did i? Sorry! And also sorry for the very late update, please forgive me! Hope you enjoy this chapter and will review if you get the chance, Enjoy!_

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_It was several minutes later—minutes that were also caught and recorded onto film—when Hyde and Kitty settled on an agreement involving the number of questions Kitty had left to ask. _

_They settled on only one more question. The compromise of meeting in the middle was one that had each of the two thinking that they had won the argument and gotten what they wanted in the end. However the second Kitty asked her final question Hyde realized which one of them was the actual winner in this situation._

"_Steven," Kitty began, "How do you feel about my cancer?"_

_Hyde froze on the spot, replaying Kitty's question in his head while staring back at her and into his camera. It was a loaded question and he didn't know what to say…or better yet, he didn't know where to begin._

_He cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Um ok Mom. New deal. You can have your two questions but this can't one of them, sound good?"_

"_Nope." Kitty replied shaking her head, "You said one last question and this is my one last question."_

_Covering his face with his hand Hyde took a deep breath and then exhaled, trying to come up with away to get his adopted mother to change her mind or at least buy him some time before having to answer this question._

"_Don't you wanna take some time to think…"_

_Again Kitty shook her head, "No. I'm fine with this question, I'd like to hear your answer to this question." She coaxed slightly but the young man infront of the camera remained mute, "Steven, it's okay, you can be honest with me. I won't get upset, I just want to know…"_

"_I don't like it." Hyde replied looking down._

_Kitty raised her eyebrows just slightly at the surprise of getting an answer out of him so quickly—she had really been convinced that he was going to put up a taller, stronger wall in front of himself during this question. And though she appreciated and was happy that he had answered, the reply was abit vague for Kitty Forman._

"_Would you like to expand on that?" she suggested, "Maybe how you felt about it at first or now even…"_

"_No." Hyde was quick to answer, "But I know you would like me too."_

_His statement caused a smile to appear on Kitty's face behind the camera. It showed her that he knew her just as well as she knew him._

_Hyde let out a heavy sigh, "I hate it…I hate the cancer." he answered truthfully as he looked up and over at Kitty only to look away a few seconds later, "I hate everything about it. I hate seeing what it's done to you…made you stay in the hospital for weeks, made you physically weaker, made you go through all those treatments and surgeries that the stupid doctors said would get rid of the damn thing…I hate that this is happening to you. Bad things like this shouldn't happen to good people like you."_

"_Steven…" Kitty tried to but couldn't get a word in._

"_I hate that the cancer…that it might be the thing that steals you away from us when we still need you. I hate that you and Red might not grow old together because it. That because of the damn thing, my kids, if I ever have any, might not be able to get to know you." Hyde continued, feeling a turn in the pit of his stomach just thinking about the things he'd said; and the feeling only got worse when he looked over at his surrogate mother. Still he did his best to forget about the camera and give Kitty his sincere answer to her question._

"_When Bud and Edna left…it hurt yeah but I got through it and over it because you were there to help me." He went on trying to ignore the tightness in his throat, "It's really not the same because neither of them hold a candle to you…but if...if we lost you…I…I don't…I don't know…"_

_Kitty sat silently as she watched her adopted son cover his un-shaded eyes with his palm. Her heart broke and she instantly wished she had taken his offer of two questions instead of this one. It was too late now, and there was no way Kitty could go back in time and change things; she did however know one thing she could do._

_Slowly she placed the device on the coffee table—not bothering to stop the recording or give a care to where it was the lens was focused on—and stood up from her seat. _

_And though the camera was not focused perfectly on the scene—and when it would be played back the image would appear on the far left side of the screen—the camcorder still managed to capture the tender, heartfelt if not heartbreaking moment of a mother comforting and trying to calm down her upset son in her arms._

0o0o0o

The next morning Eric Forman sleepily woke from his slumber and found himself snuggled up in his makeshift bed on the basement floor. He resembled a caterpillar wrapped up in a cocoon as he tried not to let any of the warmth escape the blankets he remained enveloped in. These cold Wisconsin mornings were one of the things he did not miss while in Seattle. Still it was nice to stay in bed a little longer, covered with numerous warm blankets and an even warmer body cuddled up against him, the persons' arm loosely placed over Eric.

At the feeling of the arm on top of his waist, Eric smiled thinking about the body that was attached to this arm. It was small and petite, but soft and curvy in all the right places. But it wasn't just the physical parts of the body that Eric's mind thought about, it was also what was inside that body, and not the whole anatomy and physiology stuff. It was a body filled with love and compassion, so much strength that Eric never thought possible, and of course lots feistiness. It was Jackie's body. Beautiful Jackie who…

Suddenly all of Eric's thoughts about Jackie stopped as he recalled the events from last night…

Last night they had said 'goodnight' multiple times t the living room stairs…so he hadn't slept in the same bed with Jackie last night. No that had been the night before. Before they had their first date at the mall, before Laurie came back…Last night he hadn't slept in Jackie's room. His mom had told him to sleep in the basement with…Fez!

Eye widened with fear, Eric slowly turned himself onto his back and followed the path of the arm now resting over his stomach. He went from the fingers to the wrist to the forearm…and every new part of the limb that Eric followed seemed to be hairier and manlier. Then finally his eyes traveled upwards the familiar face of his foreign friend, and even though he was still asleep a faint smile could be seen playing on his lips.

"Oh my God." Eric nearly shouted but didn't want to wake his friend, he didn't even want to think about the reason behind Fez's grin. "Oh my God!" he said now letting his voice become a bit more high pitched.

Thinking quickly Eric pushed the foreign man's body away from his own before franticly scampering away from the pile of blankets and onto his feet. Luckily Fez had remained fast asleep the whole time. In an alarmed fashion Eric scanned his eyes around the room to make sure no one had seen anything. There was no one there so as long as Hyde was still catching up on his z's in his own room it would be like none of this had happened.

Feeling confident and not as embarrassed or ashamed, Eric made his way over to the wooden staircase. Only he was so consumed in holding his head up high, he didn't look down and see his sleeping friend on the floor.

"Aye!" a loud scream was heard from under Eric's right foot.

Immediately Eric looked down, "Oh jeeze, sorry Fez!"

However his cuddle buddy did not look up at him, he only muttered a few words in his native language before drifting back to sleep.

Shaking his head and fighting back a smile, Eric climbed up the stairway as fast as he could. Once he reached the top of the stairs and pushed open the basement door into the kitchen he was welcomed into the room by a familiar sound and smell.

Unfortunately, the sounds weren't of his mother happily singing to whatever song was playing on the radio and the smells weren't coming from any of her homemade meals; instead the smells were from the take-out breakfast that had been placed on the kitchen table and the sounds were only the paper bags rustling against each other.

This caused Eric to release a silent sigh. Never before had he missed his mother's cooking so much, not when he had first moved to Seattle and not even when he was in Africa. Now…now he'd do anything to be able to eat another one of his mom's meatloaves, or brownies, heck even just one of her special grilled cheese sandwiches that she always made with extra 'Kitty Love.'

Though despite the fact that he longed for a home cooked meal—after all he rarely had one in Seattle either—he did appreciate the meals that had been eating, the way everyone was pitching in and taking turns buying out. Especially Hyde and Jackie, he appreciated a lot of things those two were doing and had done.

Speaking of, the certain petite brunette was standing in the kitchen at this moment. She was the one who was causing those slight crackling noises from the paper sacks, she was also the only one in the room giving Eric the message that she had been the one who'd bought today's breakfast.

Jackie's back was turned towards him, as she'd yet to notice him, but he continued to watch her. Not being able to contain his grin or stop his eyes from moving downwards…which leaded to result of an even bigger smile. He tried to stop himself, he did…but he couldn't.

"Are you looking at my ass?" a voice asked startling Eric and breaking him from his trance.

A second after the question had been asked, Jackie turned herself around and crossed her arms while looking at Eric, waiting for her answer.

"No!" he was quick to defend himself, trying not to sound as guilty as he looked, "I mean unless you wanted me too…?"

There was no verbal response just the tiniest smile that was abit difficult to see as she shook her head back and forth.

"Ok, well then that's good. Because really I wasn't." Eric went on to expand his story, "No…I was just thinking of…" he drifted off and looked around the room before landing his eyes on the round white tabletop, "How uncomfortable that kitchen table really would be." He explained and gestured towards the furniture.

Jackie still didn't quite believe him. Though she wasn't at all upset by the fact that he had been checking her out, it had made her morning, she just wanted to see him sweat abit. Which he did, but he had also been able to come up with a good excuse in the process.

"Was it really that bad?" she asked.

Eric nodded, "I can honestly say I will never sleep with Fez again!"

Jackie had to hold back her laugh when she heard those words, "Well as the girl you've taken on a first date and have plans to take on a second one, I am glad to hear that." She stated and Eric gave a slightly embarrassed smile as he realized how he'd made his words sound, "Secondly, I thought Fez was sleeping on the couch and you were on the floor."

"You and I both." He replied and then shrugged, "I don't know, he probably ended up down there after one of the times he was sleepwalking."

"Fez sleepwalks?" Jackie asked sounding both curious and confused, as she tried to recall any actual sleepwalking event happening when she shared an apartment with the foreigner…sure there had been the frequent fake sleepwalking that always lead him to the same spot, her bed, but it was never the real deal.

"Oh sleepwalking is just the beginning!" Eric began to explain, "That guy does everything in his sleep. He walks, talks, moans, kicks…I swear at one point during the night I woke up and saw him standing over by the deepfreeze, his eyes closed and eating a popsicle!"

Jackie could no longer contain her giggles and she now let them fill the air.

"And he punches! Look at this…" Eric drifted off abit before reaching for his shirtsleeve and rolling it up to his shoulder in order to show Jackie the large round forming bruise he had no doubtedly gotten at some point last night.

With a small frown intended on her forehead, Jackie examined the bash on Eric's upper arm, it looked painful and she was almost surprised at how fast it had formed into the black and blue mark. Slowly she reached over and gingerly placed her soft fingers over the bruise.

"Does it hurt?"

"No." Eric lied, not wanting her to remove her hand; he was really enjoying her soft touch on him, "It actually feels a lot better now."

Jackie released a small laugh in response as she placed her other hand on Eric's injured arm. She had plans of pulling the arm closer to her, so she could get a better look, however when her dainty hand grabbed the side of Eric's bicep she froze.

There was muscle there. Eric Forman actually had muscle on his biceps. Of course Jackie had noticed this before and admired the features with her eyes, but this time she was feeling the actual muscle with her hand. It was big, but not the ugly big muscles with the veins popping out, and it was firm and strong…This proved it, Eric Forman was no longer the scrawny twitchy boy she grew up with. Well maybe he was still abit twitchy but he was in no way scrawny anymore.

Feeling a slight heat on her cheeks, Jackie released her grip on Eric's arm, "I should make some coffee."

The smile that had appeared on Eric's face when he realized that _she_ was checking _him_ out, soon fell the minute he heard her words.

"Ugh Jackie, wait!" he called out, following her to the old coffee maker, "I can do that. Let me do that."

Eric then proceeded to slightly push Jackie away from the appliance and then took over. Watching him, Jackie knitted her brows together and crossed her arms defensively.

"I can make a cup of coffee, you know." She stated.

"I know." He nodded and then playfully grinned, "But it's not very good."

Shaking her head, she pointed her index finger in his direction, "Just watch, one of these days I am going to make a fantastic cup of coffee."

"Alright. That's gonna be a really big day." Eric paused in his answer, "I mean you making a good cup of coffee…pigs finally flying."

"Shut up." Jackie ordered wile trying not to let her giggles get the best of her.

She then gave his arm a playful swat that caused Eric's mouth to break out into a bigger grin as he let out a quick chuckle. This playful banter between the two of them was something Eric really enjoyed. It was fun being able to make jokes about the other and when a joke had been made about them, they were able to laugh at themselves. It never felt like Jackie was laughing at him, it was like she was laughing with him.

Plus with Donna…if he'd told her she'd make a good cup of coffee the day pigs flew she would have come up with a quick remark and then stomped out of the room right after telling him that he could make all the coffee from then on.

"I noticed how you didn't ask how my night went with your sister." Jackie commented, bring Eric back to the kitchen, "Even after I asked about your night with Fez."

Eric shrugged his shoulders at the question, "Well I figured since the universe seems to still be in tact and there's no fiery pitholes leading to hell that have opened up, everything went fine and having so much evil in one room really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

Smiling lightly Jackie replied, "I guess you do have a point there, it really wasn't as bad as it could've been. We talked for a little bit but most of the time she was with Lucy. Laurie's a really good mom." She stopped and scrunched up her face, "Wow that felt weird to say."

Eric laughed in agreement, "Hey I'm still surprised she's got a kid. Usually when I think of Laurie and kids…well those two words are almost never used in the same sentence. Unless you count, Laurie eats kids to steal their youth."

"She's not like that anymore though. At least from what I've seen." Jackie replied, after holding back a laugh at Eric's insult towards his sister, "She's not 'Whorey Laurie' which is really for the best especially since she has Lucy…now she's 'Mommy Laurie.' She's changed…just like all of us have."

Nodding gradually Eric thought over Jackie's last statement and realized just how true it was. They all really had changed in someway or another Hyde had become more responsible and was no longer just some burn-out living in a basement, the guys hadn't even been in a circle for years. Donna, who once believed a woman didn't need a man to make her someone was engaged and constantly looking at the telephone just waiting for a call from her hopefully still fiancé.

Fez and Kelso still had their prevy and childish moments, but they had matured in their own ways. They both had good paying jobs—Kelso was even allowed to handle a gun, that was saying a lot! And Kelso, the one they thought would be the last in their group to settle down, was happily married and had his own little girl. That same little girl who Fez was a doting uncle to, and hopefully he would be that same type of dad to his own daughter when Laurie gave him the news.

Just like their friends, Eric realized, he and Jackie had each changed as well. And it made him wonder if what they had going now would even exist if they were those same people from their teenage years…and what changes exactly played a role in it all. Jackie was no longer the snobby, self-centered cheerleader but was it because she had changed and grown out of the stage or was it that she never really was as snobby and self-centered as Eric remembered and his view of her had now changed?

What ever it was, it had changed…just like everything had changed already and everything would change _after_. They had all changed in some way or another.

"But why do I have to wake up now? It's soo early!" a familiar voice was heard whining from the living room.

Then again, some things stayed the same.

"We don't have to go to work…Betsy doesn't have school. I could be getting some extra beauty sleep, Brooke…not that I really need it." The voice added, sounding confident for a second or two before going back to the complaining tone from before.

"There not even any of the good, violent cartoons on yet." Kelso reminded as he pushed open the swinging door for him and his family, "I mean… alright _McDonalds_!"

Seeing the paper bags that he knew were filled with different variations of breakfast foods, Kelso sprinted his way to the table and began to rummage through the sacks. Meanwhile behind him stood his family, as they entered the kitchen. Betsy smiled and giggled at her father's actions and Brooke shook her head while fighting back her own smile. Soon noticing the duo standing the room, she looked over and smiled before giving a morning greeting and then turning towards her husband.

"Say 'good morning' Michael."

Without looking up from the bags, Kelso did as he was told, "Good morning Michael."

Betsy's giggles grew louder and the carefree sounds caused Eric's own smile to grow and Jackie's soon followed.

"Betsy, honey." Brooke began to say, placing her hands on her daughter shoulders, "Would you make up for your daddy's manners and say good morning to you aunt and uncle?"

The young girl looked up at her mother and nodded before looking over at the couple who had bought her toys yesterday, she put a large grin on her face.

"Good morning Aunt Jackie. Good morning Uncle Eric."

Together Eric and Jackie gave their own 'good mornings' to the littlest Kelso.

"Do you want me to make you some chocolate milk, sweetie?" Jackie asked with smile.

Betsy smiled and eagerly nodded her head earning her a laugh from Jackie; however her mother did not want her taking after her father in the manners department and proceeded to give her a slight nudge.

"What do we say, Betsy?" she asked, once again.

Quickly remembering her manners, Betsy put them to use, "Yes, please Aunt Jackie."

While her godmother poured the chocolate syrup into the cup of milk and her mother and uncle made small morning talk, Betsy was ready to ask her first question of the day.

"Aunt Jackie," she called out, grabbing Jackie's attention instantly, "Can we go back to the toy store today?"

"Oh no honey, I'm afraid not." Jackie answered hoping not to crush the little girl's heart.

Eric noticed Jackie's cautiousness and stepped in to help, "Yeah, we've gotta stay here to take care of Grandma Kitty since she's sick."

"That's right." Jackie nodded, "And her nurse is coming later on today." She added, informing not just the little girl but the adults in the room as well.

Betsy's disappointment showed in her face and a pout was added for extra effect, "But it's boring here…"

And while neither Jackie nor Eric reacted much to the words that had been spoken, Brooke's eyes nearly budged out of her head as she looked over at her daughter. Quickly and with an apologetic look, she turned to Eric.

"Eric, I am so sorry. I'm sure she didn't mean it." She began, "Betsy's apologize to your Uncle Eric…"

Eric lifted his palms to cut Brooke off, "It's ok, Brooke.' He assured and then looked at the mini-Brooke in front of him "It's ok, Betsy."

The young teacher then bent down on one knee to be at Betsy's level, "I know you wanna get out of this house and you think it's boring being here. I do too." He admitted, meaning the first part. He wished he could get out of the house for just a little while not just because it ensured some alone time with Jackie but it allowed them to get away from the drama and forget just for a small while about his mother's suffering.

"And you're a kid, you've gotta be extra bored." He continued and Betsy nodded her head, "The only people you have to play with is us boring grown ups and your Uncle Fez."

"Uncle Fez is a sore loser." Betsy informed.

Eric chuckled, "I know." He agreed, after playing many board games with Fez over the years, Eric knew this very well.

"But what if I were to tell you that things around here may get a lot more fun for you?" he asked with a smile. Of course he was thinking about his niece who was still in hiding with her mother upstairs, but they couldn't stay up there forever and Eric had a good feeling the two girls would hit it off right away. After all they each had a part of their father's in them and those two were inseparable, "You might even find another player for _Hungry Hungry Hippos_."

The little girl's face lit up, "Really?"

Looking on at the scene, Jackie smiled knowing just what Eric was up to. Wanting to join in on the spreading some cheer to her goddaughter, Jackie stepped over with the chocolate milk in her hand as Eric nodded his head.

"I'm with your Uncle Eric, Bets." Jackie began, "I think you'll be making a new friend really soon."

"When? When? When?" she asked, practically bouncing in place.

Jackie smiled, "Soon, sweetie."

"But you have to wait." Eric added, "And while you're waiting you don't wanna go to the store…you could miss your new friend getting here, right?"

"Right…"

"So you'll stay here today and we'll save shopping for maybe another day?" Jackie questioned, handing over the flavored milk.

Betsy was silent for a few seconds as she thought about what she was being told. She couldn't go shopping again which meant no more new toys, but Uncle Eric was saying she could get a new friend…That was better than ten new toys!

"Ok." She quickly agreed and then grabbed her beverage.

Brooke meanwhile didn't seem to notice her daughter's absent manners, and if she had they were the last things on her mind. What had the librarian's attention was the words Jackie and Eric had said to her daughter. A new friend? Who? Were they being truthful or just trying to get out of taking Betsy out…it was a clever plan…but they didn't seem like the type of people to fool a little kid. So that meant they had to be telling the truth…what did they know that no one else knew?

Opening her mouth Brooke looked over at Jackie but before she could get a word in Fez entered the room.

"Good morning, everyone!" he greeted happily with a smile that quickly fell and turned into a scowl as he looked over at Eric, "Except you. I hope you have a terrible morning."

"What?" Eric instantly asked, now up off his knee, "Why?"

Fez walked over to the table where his best friend was struggling to stay awake, "Because you snore." He looked back at Eric, "Like an elephant in heat."

Furrowing his brow Eric stared at the foreigner, "An elephant in heat?"

"Yes, that is what you sound like." Fez replied with a nod before going on to recreate Eric's loud snores in a very over the top and exaggerated dramatization.

The girls in the room broke out into laughter at Fez's antics. Kelso snapped his head up, waking from his light slumber, and looking around the room for the source of the noise. And Eric scowled at his friend. He knew he snored, his father had told him just yesterday, but there was no way he sounded like _that_!

"I snore? I snore?" Eric questioned but didn't wait for a reply, instead he lifted his index finger towards his friend, "Well you do everything else in your sleep. And I mean _everything_!"

Fez gave a sleepish grin and shrugged his shoulders as both Jackie and Brooke grimaced in the background.

"And look…look at this." Eric continued with his point as he walked closer to the table, while rolling up his sleeve to show Fez the bruise he'd show Jackie earlier, "You punched me!"

Looking at the blue and black bash, Fez's brown eyes widened, "I did that?"

"Yeah."

A grin then broke out onto the foreign man's face, "Those five pound weights are really paying off!" he said proudly as he lifted his right arm in a flexing position to examine his muscles.

"Fez!" Eric exclaimed in shock.

"What?"

"Aren't you going to apologize?"

"No." Fez answered quickly as if the reason were obvious, "I have made us both look very tough and macho!"

Eric continued to frown, "No Fez, you didn't okay? You just made me look like I have a bruise. I do have a bruise. From you! And it hurts!"

"Oh Eric…" Fez said as he shook his head and smiled, "You are not mad at me for punching you. You are mad because you bruise like an orange."

Confusion soon filled the room thanks to three of its occupants. The other two were busy either thinking about their new friend or trying to keep their head up and not fall back to sleep.

"Bruise like an orange, Fez?" Jackie repeated, thinking maybe her friend would realize what he'd said wrong, but he only nodded.

Brooke gave it her own shot, "Don't you mean bruise like a peach?"

Taking a few seconds to ponder over the suggestion Fez realized the tall brunette was correct, "Oh right. Bruise like a peach. I knew it was something that was orange."

This statement puzzled the trio even more than the first one. However before any questions or statement could be made another member of the group pushed open the swinging kitchen door and walked inside.

"Morning you guys." The tall blonde greeted in a normal tone of voice.

"Good morning."

"Hey Donna."

"Morning Donna."

And other welcomes soon followed.

It was a nice calm, carefree morning scene that had that family feeling to it…that is until Donna sat her self down at the table and look at the label on the paper sacks.

"_McDonalds_?" she asked with a frown in place, "Didn't we just eat this stuff last night?"

"Uh I don't think so, Donna. _McDonalds _usually stops selling breakfast after eleven, so…"

"You know what I mean, Eric." Donna interrupted in a firm tone of voice as she looked at her ex-boyfriend now having a good idea of who had bought the day's breakfast, "Hyde picked up _McDonalds_ for all of us last night for dinner and now we're here eating from _McDonalds_ again. I thought there weren't supposed to be repeats one after another?"

The blonde kept her green eyes on Eric, waiting and expecting him to answer her. And so it came as quite a surprise when she finally heard words but never saw Eric's mouth move; and the tone used was much more feminine. Immediately Donna turned towards the sound.

"I know, Donna. It was my fault not Eric's." Jackie began to explain.

Donna scowled at the young woman who days ago she had asked to be her maid of honor. Now she wasn't sure she should have done that and it wasn't just because of the fact that she still didn't know if her wedding was still on. Her scowl seemed to deepen the longer she looked at the former cheerleader even though it wasn't her she was really upset with at the moment nor was she as upset about the repeat of _McDonalds_. Donna was now even more upset with the fact that Eric had been defending and trying to cover for her…he wasn't supposed to be covering for her or defending her. That's not what he did, at least not for Jackie; he was supposed to hate her not 'be in love' with her.

"You got the food, Jackie?"

"Yeah." The brunette nodded, "It was my turn to get breakfast and I overslept a little bit this morning…I knew you all were going to be up soon and _McDonalds_ is the closest place to the house. I'll make sure we don't have _McDonald's_ for a couple of meals." Jackie continued, not exactly sure why she was explain and apologizing to Donna.

Donna shrugged, "Yeah, sure. But you know this whole thing is getting pretty ridiculous."

The kitchen fell into a frozen silence, no one dared to move or speak. They only looked at one another exchanging silent words with their eyes, Eric with Jackie, Brooke with both Fez and Kelso. None of them looking at Donna until…

"What do you mean, Donna?" Eric questioned, already preparing himself for an argument—it reminded him of the days when they were dating.

"I mean this whole eating out thing, Eric." She began to explain gesturing towards the take out food on the table, "I mean it's not terrible or anything, it's just…we're each spending more than forty dollars everyday to pay for everyone's meals, when it would be a lot cheaper if we all just chipped in some money and went to the grocery store to buy stuff to cook into a meal."

Jackie stared at her friend, having mixed feelings about the points she'd just made. It made sense, they had been spending a lot and they probably would save a few bucks if they pinched in for groceries…but it would be them saving money not her saving money. Donna hadn't bought a meal for them since the night before Randy left.

"And just who did you plan on having cook these meals?" Eric had to ask, "Because as I recall the last time you cooked for me was when you tried to make a club sandwich, and you didn't get past making the toast. And even that managed to get stuck in the toaster."

Donna glared an angry glare at her ex-boyfriend as the others around her laughed or tried to hold in their laughs and keep them to themselves.

Kelso was one of the ones who laughed right out loud not even trying to hide it as he asked his question, "Did you try and get it out with a fork too?"

Too? Each of his friends seemed to repeat in their heads as they each displayed their own puzzled and perplexed frowns. Was Kelso really that dumb to put a metal utensil into a plugged in toaster…actually now that they thought about it and all of his previous kettlehead moments, it wasn't too hard to believe. And it explained a lot.

Shaking her head, Donna brought the conversation back on track, "Look, I don't care who makes the meals as long as it's not Ronald McDonald."

"Actually, Ronald McDonald doesn't make any of the food." Eric stated in a matter-of-fact tone as he lifted his index finger, "That's why we never see him in the commercials cooking in the kitchen. He's more of the creepy clown spokesman of _McDonalds_."

Donna continued to stare at Eric, her angry expression changing slightly and into a more annoyed one. Her expression clearly asking Eric a sarcastic, 'Seriously?' However Eric's reaction to the look was not his normal reaction and he didn't back away or drop his small smirk; instead he kept his eyes on his girlfriend and let his smirk turn into a smile.

"You know, if you guys want I could do it." Brooke said out loud, hoping to break the tension building up in the room and being serious and sincere about her offer, "I can make a few meals, and I don't want to brag but I am pretty good in the kitchen."

"Pretty good?" Kelso asked, in a shocked tone as he looked over at his wife, "Babe, you're awesome in the kitchen."

Her husband's words made her smile and she placed a loving kiss on his cheek, "Thank you, honey."

Kelso grinned largely, happy from the kiss he received, and nodded before looking at his friends, "Yeah, outside our bedroom that's our second favorite place to do it."

"Michael!" Brooke exclaimed with wide eyes as she smacked him on his shoulder.

"Ow!" he cried in pain as he held onto his arm, "What? It's not like I told them our number one favorite place was the living room couch!"

"Michael!"

"I think it's sexy." Fez shared out loud with an approving grin.

"See Fez appreciates it!" Kelso almost shouted, as if it were a good thing, he turned to Fez and place his hand on his buddy's shoulder, "Thanks, man."

Fez returned the smile, "Not a problem."

Grinning still, Kelso nodded towards Fez and then looked over at his wife, "I'm going back to sleep."

However instead of getting up and going back to the room where he had been sleeping in, as any other person would do, Kelso merely propped his elbow on the table and placed his head in his hand before proceeding to close his eyes. Brooke buried her own head in her hands, but she was not doing it to get a few more minutes of shuteye as her husband was.

Jackie watched Brooke with a sympathetic look; she knew how embarrassing it could be when you were involved with Michael Kelso. And Brooke was married to him, the poor girl; it was a good thing she loved the big lug so much. As she continued to watch Brooke, Jackie thought about the suggestion she'd made only seconds ago. It was a very generous offer and a homemade meal sounded so much better than another greasy burger and pack of fries. Still there was that little part of Jackie that knew she could/shouldn't take Brooke up on her offer.

"Brooke, thanks for the offer. It really is sweet of you, but I just don't think Mom would like the idea." The petite brunette began to explain, "She says that guests should be the ones taken care of, not the ones taking care of things."

Nodding along with what Jackie said—and grateful for the change in subject—Brooke understood what she was talking about. After all this wasn't the first time she and her family had stayed in the Forman Home, and each time they did, Kitty had reminded her of that same thing along with another statement that never failed to make Brooke smile.

"That's true." The young mother agreed and then slowly let a smile creep onto her lips, "But Mrs. Forman also always says that we're family. And family takes care of each other in any way that they can, in both good and bad times."

Brooke smiled over at Jackie and Eric, who remained standing beside her, and soon the couple had their own smiles in place. Jackie smiled because she realized a very good point had been made and she wondered how know one else had seemed to catch it before, and then there was the fact that the chances of having a home cooked meal at least once were looking pretty good. Eric smiled because those things did sound like things his mother would say, plus he hadn't had a non-take out, non-frozen meal in weeks.

With his smile still in place, Eric eager nodded his head, "Very, very true. So Brooke, what are you thinking for tonight?" he asked for his growling stomach.

While Brooke let out a small laugh, Jackie placed her hand on Eric's shoulder as if trying to hold him back.

"Hold on, not so fast. I really like the idea, but I still think we should run it by Mom." Jackie shared with the two, "Maybe I could talk to Red first and see what he thinks about it."

"Who thinks about what?" a new voice asked as they entered the kitchen from the living room.

Eric turned to see his adopted brother walk in, he figured Hyde would probably have an onion as well so he began to inform him of their discussion, "See what Red thinks about…"

"Something." Jackie quickly said as she cut Eric off.

She knew if Hyde knew what they were talking about he'd have a very strong and negative opinion. He didn't like seeing anyone but Kitty cooking in this kitchen, once when Kitty had been sick before Jackie had put a frozen pizza in the oven, Hyde had caught her and they had one of their biggest fights since Chicago. That wasn't, however, the only reason Jackie had for keeping Hyde in the dark. She really didn't see any reason to involve Hyde, he'd only take over and try to put everything under his control. Just like he tried to do with her.

Hyde shifted his eyes from Eric to Hyde, part of his wanted to respond to her interruption but the other part told him it was too early in the morning to start up a fight.

"Fine, whatever." He said with a shrug and then headed to where everyone else was seated.

Eric was still a bit confused with Jackie's actions but only silently questioned them, for now; he watched Hyde for a few seconds before realizing where Hyde had come from, the living room. That meant he'd left his room. Which meant he could have seen…Oh no.

"Uh Hyde…" Eric began, trying not to sound nervous, "Did you just come down from upstairs?"

"No man, I came down from downstairs." Hyde replied, deep in sarcasm.

"Right, right." Eric nodded and then became silent, waiting for the many burns Hyde had stored in his mind since seeing him and Fez on the floor.

But not a burn was said. Nothing at all was said.

Instead Hyde made his way to one of the cabinets and pulled out an old breakfast tray, he then went to get a few cups of coffee and once he was done with that he grabbed one of the empty paper bags and began to fill it up with enough food to last him all day today and part of tomorrow. The others watched him, grabbing handfuls of the syrup packages, a several hash browns, and at least four of the individual Styrofoam pancake packages. It didn't take long for Eric and Jackie to figure out he was taking food up to not only Red, Kitty, and himself but also to the two secret houseguests; the remaining member of the group were now starting to think he'd been lying about giving up circles and was having a really bad case of the munchies.

"Santy Clause, why? Why are you taking our food? Why?" Fez asked, in a childlike voice as he looked at his curly-haired friend with puppy dog eyes.

Hyde stared back at the foreigner, not a trace of a smile in his expression, "Fez, Christmas was a month ago. Get rid of the gay apparel and get over it."

Fez looked back with a hurt expression written in his face, he then turned to his half awake, half asleep friend, "Kelso does this clothes make me look gay?"

Kelso slightly shook himself awake when he heard his friend's question; he then looked Fez over and shrugged his shoulders.

"Not more than usual." He answered and then went back to his journey to la la land.

These words made Fez happy and his somber expression soon changed into a more happier and delighted one, he quickly forgot about the Grinch packing away their breakfast in his sacks. But there was still someone who was still curious about Hyde's actions.

"Seriously Hyde, what's with all the food?" Donna questioned.

"Uh I'm gonna eat upstairs with Mom and Red." Hyde stared to explain, which was partly true, "And I'm taking some food up for them too."

Brooke smiled, almost hopefully, at the growing amount of food for just three people. "Is Mrs. Forman eating more now?"

Hyde's Zen face dropped, he couldn't lie about that, "Uh…uh no she's not."

"But she might!" Eric quickly jumped in as he noticed the sadden expression now worn on most of the individuals in the room and the struggle his brother seemed to be having, "So Hyde's taking up some extra food just in case, right Hyde?"

Hyde nodded, "Right."

"And the four cups of coffee are because…" Donna waited for her answer.

Together Hyde and Eric looked down at the tray that held four of the yellow coffee mugs, each of them filled with the hot, caffeine filled liquid; and then they looked back at each other waiting for the other to say something.

"Uh it's for Red." Hyde at last managed to come up with, "The guys been staying up late with Mom and hasn't slept much so I'm taking up an extra cup for him…you know keep him up and awake."

Fez frowned just slightly at the explanation, "Why don't you just come back down when Mr. Red finishes with his first cup of coffee?"

Up until Fez spoke, Hyde thought this excuse was perfect, but as soon as Fez asked his question Hyde realized it wasn't as flawless as he'd thought. Fortunately he knew a way to quickly get out of it.

"Shut up and drink your syrup, Fez." He practically ordered.

Thinking it was a good idea anyway, Fez shrugged his shoulders before grabbing a small plastic packaging containing the maple syrup, he lifted it up as a quick cheers and then took a sip from it as if it were a type of beverage.

And luckily, by telling Fez to do this it not only stopped his questions but Donna's as well. The blonde seemed to completely forget about the extra food as she looked at the foreigner in disbelief.

"Hey Forman, man." Hyde called out, grabbing Eric's attention right away, "Why don't you come up and…join the family for breakfast?"

Eric gave a smile at Hyde's suggestion, he knew it was Hyde's way of saying thanks for helping him out with the covering, "Yeah, sure." He nodded, "Think I'll eat real quick down here and then meet with guys upstairs in a few."

"Cool." Hyde replied giving his own nod before grabbing the tray full of the various breakfast items and heading to the swinging door, "See you guys later."

Everyone returned Hyde's goodbye with their own 'Bye,' 'Later', 'Okay' and so on, everyone but Jackie.

The only one who noticed the tiny brunette's silence, however, was Eric. He knew she was still upset and bothered by the things Hyde had said the other night, as was he just not to her extent. Another reason Eric found himself not as upset as Jackie was because he realized that now with everything going on with his mom their mom, it was not the time to be fighting and pushing away each other.

Eric also knew that those feelings of resentment that Jackie seemed to have for Hyde right now and the one he for her were most probably the biggest reason that Jackie kept putting off her talk with Hyde. But Eric hoped that soon the duo would talk and be able to work things out; they'd managed to get over the whole stripper thing—granted it was mostly because of his mother's cancer—they had to get over this too, right? Or did someone else close to them all have to be diagnosed with a terminal illness first?

Things between him and Jackie were going really great and the truth was he hoped they continued to, but there's was part of him that worried that if things didn't get fixed with Hyde and Jackie, Hyde would disconnect himself from them. Eric was already loosing his mother. He didn't want to loose anyone else. He wanted to keep all of these people who were in this kitchen with him in his life. Including Donna, and even Randy…if the guy ever returned.

"Eric?" Jackie called out in a soft voice, "You ok?"

Shaking his head, Eric cleared his thoughts from his mind, "Yeah, sorry. Was just thinking."

Jackie smiled and nodded before lacing her arm through his, "Why don't we eat so you can go up and spend some time with your family?"

"Alright." Eric quickly agreed.

The two walked closer to the kitchen table, arm in arm. Once they were close enough Eric pulled his arm away from hers and pulled out the empty seat next to Brooke, Jackie smiled but something on the table caught her eye and kept her from sitting down.

"Ugh!" She groaned with annoyance and rolled her eyes, "Steven took the last of the butter packets."

"I think there's still that half a stick of butter in the fridge." Eric stated.

"Oh that's right." Jackie replied as she too quickly remembered the item, "I'll get it, you sit down."

Eric smiled as he watched Jackie turn back around and then make her way to the brown refrigerator, he then too turn around and faced the table ready to take a seat in the last available seat—next to his ex-girlfriend. Cautiously he sat himself down in the seat, trying not to draw any attention from the blonde. Unfortunately that didn't last very long and soon Donna's eyes were watching him and there was no smile in sight on her face. Nervously Eric grinned at her hoping she'd return the smile; she didn't.

"Oh my God." He heard Jackie mutter and quickly took that as he cue to leave the table and rush to her side.

"What? What? What happened?" he asked still feeling his nervousness from sitting beside the angry woman.

Jackie turned towards Eric, surprised to see him there but only for a second or two, "Someone at the stick of butter! Who eats butter, just like that?" she asked as she showed Eric the empty butter holder.

Eric looked over at the table and kept his eyes on the two men. One was asleep with his head propped up in his hand an dthe other was trying to get the last drop of syrup into his mouth. He looked back at Jackie.

"I'd say it's a coin toss between Fred and Barney over there." He replied.

Smiling slightly Jackie took a few seconds to collect her thoughts, "You know, maybe Donna's right."

A frown instantly appeared on Eric's forehead and he then proceeded to place his finger in his ear and move it around, "I'm sorry, I don't think I've ever heard that…well unless you count the times Donna said it and in that case it was more 'I'm right."

"I'm serious." Jackie argued despite her giggles, "Maybe we should go to the grocery store and pick up a few things. Even before talking to Mom or even Red. We could just go and pick up a few snacks and necessities."

Eric nodded, "Yeah we could do that…wait we as in we?" he asked moving his index finger between the two of them.

"Yes, I mean we." She said mocking his gesture and then letting her lips breakout into a playful smirk, "I figured we had our first date at the mall why not have the second one in the grocery store…it'll also bring us closer to that third date."

"This…this would be our second date?" he asked with a slight gulp.

Jackie nodded this time, and fought back the urge to giggle. "Yeah, I know you kinda had your heart set on going shoe shopping with me but we could always leave that as our third date or _even further_ down the road…that is if you don't mind."

"Yes!" he almost answered to quickly and too loudly, he didn't know what he was more excited for the fact that he was going to spend some more time alone with Jackie or that he wasn't going to have to go shoe shopping to do it, "I mean no. I mean…yes I would like to go grocery shopping with you as our second date and no, no I don't mind at all."

"Great. Say at about 1:30?" Jackie suggested with a grin and Eric nodded, "Plus I figured you could also be able to help me figure out what to buy. I mean you live on your own, you've gotta know a couple of things we should get to make a few easy meals."

Uncertainty showed in Eric's expression, "Yeah… I don't really think I'm the guy for that." He started to explain, "But I can tell you all the answers to the puzzles on the backs on various cereal boxes."

Jackie laughed and shook her head as Eric continued.

"Oh and I do make one heck of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

Titling her head to the side and smiling slyly, Jackie looked at Eric, "I like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches."

"I'll keep that in mind." Eric said with a nod as he took a mental note.

The couple stayed in the back of the kitchen a little longer, simply smiling at staring into the others eyes; one would think they were about to share a very loving kiss, and they probably would have if a loud bang hadn't been heard.

Startled by the sudden sound, Eric and Jackie turned to the kitchen table where everyone else's eyes were glued on a now sitting up straight Michael Kelso.

"I'm awake!" he declared lifting up one hand in the air while the other rubbed his injured forehead.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__And that my friends would be Chapter 36 of "Two Weeks" Hope You Liked!_

_Will Hyde and Jackie ever get back to being friends? How will Eric and Jackie's date at the grocery store go? What will Kitty say when she finds out about the plan for homemade meals? When will Betsy meet Lucy? When will Fez meet Lucy? And where the heck is Randy? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until then, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, see you next time, have a nice day, and take care!_


	38. See You Then

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone! How are you all? Hope all is well! So sorry about not updating last week, had midterms and we all know how fun those are. And I also apologize for posting so late into this week, had plans of posting it yesterday but I remembered I had an online test due that day and the chapter still wasn't finished. My bad, I know…though still who gives a test during spring break? College I guess! Anywoo sorry about that once again. Just a few notes today. First off thank you all for your such lovely and kind reviews! Reading them never fails to make my heart flutter! I love them all! And as always I love you all! You're so all so wonderful and kind! Thank you again! Second as always please remember I am not a doctor nor am I learning to be one. I am almost, almost close to catching up to all the eps of House and that make me both happy and sad! I know I'm weird. And finally please forgive me for not only not posting last week, and for posting late into this week but for also updating with a short chapter. It is the half of last times chapter that had to be cut in half, so that's really the main purpose. Still this chapter does have some important info and I really liked writing the first scene after the video segment. It was fun and I hope you like it too, that what's really important of course. Ok I'm shutting up now…jeeze you'd think me not sleeping at all last night would quite me down huh? lol Enjoy! _

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"_Hate is a very strong word, Steven. Especially when you're talking about people." Kitty stated._

_It had been quite a few minutes since Kitty's final question and Hyde's emotional response. Now the two found themselves back in their places from before; Kitty seated on the yellow sofa and Hyde infront of her, happily filming behind the camera._

"_Yeah, ok." Hyde replied not exactly seeing the point in his mother making that statement, it didn't really answer his question; and so he asked again, "So who are some of the people you hate?"_

"_I don't hate anyone." She explained but soon saw Hyde's unconvinced look behind the camera, and she let out a small sigh, "I mean sure there are a few people…oh like those rich, snobby women from The LOPPS."_

"_Kids, don't ask. You don't wanna know." Hyde said to the future viewers of the video._

_Kitty sent a warning look to Hyde but soo softened her expression when she too began to address the future generations, "The Ladies of Point Place."_

"_See I told you." Hyde added before going back to the main subject, "So you hate those ladies?"_

"_No, I don't hate them, Steven, I just don't like them very much. I dislike them, I don't hate them" Kitty tried to clear up the differences, "I don't think you should ever say that you hate someone or show any hatred towards anyone; not even towards the people you dislike or people who have done mean things to you."_

"_Don't get mad, get revenge right?"_

_Kitty frowned a shook her head, "No not revenge either. You should always show kindness towards others, smile, give a compliment, offer a helping hand." She went on and remembered another important part, "Ooh, oh and it's always good to do this to a person after they've done something that upset or hurt you. That way you'll feel like the better person and they'll feel guilt. They may not show it but deep, deep, deep inside it's there, and then slowly it'll start eating at them until they can't take it anymore."_

"_The ol' kill them with kindness, huh?" Hyde asked with a smirk that Kitty returned with a smile._

_0o0o0o_

"What kind of place claims to serve breakfast but doesn't give one piece of bacon?" Red grumbled with annoyance as he glared down at the takeout food in his lap.

It had been several minutes since Hyde had come up and delivered the morning's breakfast and by now everyone was settled in and eating their meals. Well almost everyone. Kitty still hadn't eaten anything; the food only seemed to make her feel sicker and she no longer felt like eating at all, of course part of that was due to the fact that whatever she put into her system would only be tossed out minutes later. Still she sat with her family, enjoying the talk, the company, and most importantly just being able to have a little more time with them all.

Eric was still downstairs finishing his breakfast and Hyde had informed his adopted family that he'd be coming up later on and that they shouldn't wait for him to eat. And so the food was passed out and they all sat themselves around Kitty.

Red remained at his wife's side in the armchair he'd been spending half of his time in now—the other half was spent beside Kitty in their bed. Hyde had pulled in another chair and placed it beside Red's seat. Sitting on the left side of the bed, but facing both Red and Hyde, were Lucy and her mother. Laurie was seated by Kitty's feet while sharing the tray Hyde and brought up with Lucy, to put their food on. And Lucy had made herself comfortable in the spot closest to her grandmother, who had—with the help of Red—propped herself on several pillows so she wouldn't strain herself from sitting up for too long.

"I don't know, Red." Hyde replied to his adopted father's comment with a smirk, he then slowly lifted his own strip of bacon to his mouth and took a bite, "I just don't know." He finished with his mouth full.

Frowning Red looked at his son but then turned away only to realize what it was he saw and then quickly turn back to look at him again, in a double take like way. Seeing the older man's actions caused Hyde's smirk to grow, however he never bothered to even try to hide his piece of crispy, greasy bacon. Red opened his mouth to make a comment but didn't get the chance to even get a word in when Kitty joined in the conversation.

"Now Red, you know you're not supposed to be eating bacon. It's too greasy." She reminded but didn't stop there, "Besides you've barely eaten anything since you've been home, to have bacon be the one thing you finally eat." She shook her head slightly before giving a pointed look at her husband, "And don't think I've forgotten all of that greasy, fattening, unhealthy food you must have eaten, but would never tell me you had, while you were at your convention. We need to look after that heart of yours."

Though Red tried to look upset or even show his annoyance he couldn't seem to fight back the small smirk that was etching it's way onto his lips. It was there for two reasons, one being the memory of all the greasy, fattening, unhealthy but very tasty food that he had in fact indulged in while in New York—but that reason was a mere cause for the smirk. The main reason behind the slightest smile was the same reason that was usually the reason behind any of his smiles, Kitty.

Here she was sick and…getting sicker but she still looked after them all, Red himself included, making sure they were well and taking care of themselves. She may have been moved to the top of the family's list of concerns these past couple of days but she'd kept her order of things the same with her family at the top of hers.

"Lucy, honey don't play with your food and finish your hash brown." Laurie told her daughter in a firm and yet still gentle tone of voice.

Not five seconds later the little blonde toddler put her piece of half a biscuit—she'd been using as her hash browns dance partner—back on the food tray and brought the food her mother had told her to eat to her mouth. She took a bite and then looked up at her mother with large smile stretched onto her lips, Laurie returned the grin as she looked at her daughter and brushed the little girl's bangs out of her cute little face.

The scene on the bed had Red's smirk turning into a slightly larger smile; though he was still getting use to the fact that his little girl was now an adult seeing her interaction and attentiveness with her daughter—his granddaughter—had him beaming with pride.

Kitty too found herself smiling as she watched Laurie and Lucy, she'd always known that Laurie's reckless teenage and early twenties years were just a faze and that there would be something that would make her reexamine her life, settle down, and be responsible. And now her she was a loving, caring mother who saw her child as the light of her life. Kitty's smile grew as she realized just how happy and how lucky she was to be able to see this scene before her.

Even Hyde couldn't hold back his smirk—though he told himself it was because of the kid and not Laurie, though he'd never admit it out loud he did have soft spot for little kids. Still deep down he knew most of his smirk was caused by Laurie's actions as well. He was glad to see that she had become such a great mother, he use to worry that if she ever did end up with a kid she'd be an Edna-type mother and he wished that on no child. However, while he was happy to see a change in Laurie he knew the old Laurie was still somewhere in there.

"So Laurie, what's it like with Jackie in your room now?" Hyde questioned, trying to hold in his mischievous smirk.

"Okay." The blonde replied with a shrug of her shoulders, "I mean it was pretty nice of her to let me and Lucy stay in there with her…she even let us sleep on the bed. And we got to talk a little bit too…I guess she's really not that bad."

While Laurie hadn't said her words in a happy, chipper, just made a best friend for life kind of tone she hadn't used a miserable, annoyed, or sarcastic tone either—and that made both her parents smile. They saw Jackie as their second daughter and to see that their own flesh and blood daughter was starting to get along with her as well made them both very happy.

Of course the happiness showed more in Kitty than in Red, still they were both equally happy because their family was coming together. And having a united family, having people to lean on, would be something that would help them all get through the future events everyone knew were coming no one quite spoke of.

"Yeah, ok." Hyde quickly said, that wasn't what he wanted to hear, "But I meant how do you feel about Jackie now living in your old room when my room and Eric's room have been left exactly the same?"

Hearing his adopted son's words caused Red send a warning scowl his way, "Steven…"

Laurie stopped her father with a raised hand and a smile, "It's ok Daddy, I understand why Jackie's living here now. She came to help you and Mom out." She said in an understanding tone of voice as she looked at her mother and father, but once that was said she looked over at Hyde but kept her understanding voice though it now started to sound a bit faux.

"And having her in my room was really the only logical choice. After all Eric's room has got so much junk in there it would take months to clean out and you'd have to find someone to do it because I would touch any of that stuff with a ten foot pole. And your room Hyde," she tilted her head, her fake innocent voice now easily recognizable, "Well that is where that murder, that took place before Mommy and Daddy bought the house, happened."

Hyde tried to keep his Zen in place as he heard Laurie's statement but after letting his smirk drop and quickly disappear from his face it was pretty hard to do. Still he gave it a shot, reminding himself that this was Laurie, Evil Laurie who was trying to get back at him by telling him his room could possibly be haunted, and that was a laugh. His room couldn't be haunted…though there hand been those occurrence of a chill in the room that he'd always passed off as him being in the basement.

"That's…" he cleared his throat and looked at the person he knew would tell him the truth, "That's not true, right?"

"Of course not, Steven. Laurie I don't know why you would say such a thing." Kitty scolded slightly but Laurie only shrugged, "Do you honestly think we would buy a house where a murder took place?"

"Your mother's right." Red declared speaking to both his children, "There was no murder committed in Steven's room or any other room...Hell Steven, before you moved into that back room I'd pretty much forgotten about it."

Kitty gave a small giggle at her husband's words, "You know I did too."

"Oh that's right, your room isn't the room of the murder," Laurie said as if remembering just then while she smiled that evil looking smile at Hyde, "It's the room of the forgotten. You really must feel right at home in there."

Hyde stared back at Laurie, now having his Zen back in tact, "Yeah unlike your room that everyone or should I say every guy knew about and visited…isn't it like the neighborhood's national landmark?"

"Yeah." Laurie nodded, "because the city's national landmark was already that area between your mom's l…"

"Alright, that's enough!" Red cut in angrily, a headache had already started to form in the small amount of time.

"But Daddy," Laurie began to protest with a small pout, "we were just getting started."

Hyde nodded in agreement, "Yeah Red, and I had a really good comeback planned out."

"I don't care." Red argued gruffly, "You two are adults now and that means no more of these petty, pointless arguments."

Both Hyde and Laurie looked downwards, but neither did it out of embarrassment or because they were ashamed; instead they hung their heads with hints of sadness and even more disappointment.

Kitty nodded her head as she looked at the duo, "I'm with your father on this one. Even though your little argument did remind me of the days when all of you kids were much younger, and that did make me smile, you are all adults now and you need start acting like it as well. Which reminds me…" she drifted off just a bit as she turned to her daughter, "Laurie, what about Fez?"

"What about him?" Laurie asked trying to sound nonchalant as she shrugged her shoulders.

The actions caused Kitty to frown but didn't stop her from pressing for an answer, "When are you going to tell him?"

"Later…" Laurie said in an almost uncertain tone of voice, never looking up at her mother.

"Later? Laurie, how much later?" Kitty asked; it wasn't that she was upset with the situation or her daughter, she just felt that Fez had the right to know about his daughter and telling him as soon as Laurie could, would be better than prolonging it until Laurie was forced to tell him the truth, "Honey, you and Lucy can't stay up here hiding forever. There will be a point where either you'll have to go downstairs or he'll have to come upstairs and the two of you would run into each other, this house isn't as big as you think it is. And what happens if he sees Lucy? What do plan on doing then?"

With a roll of her blue eyes, Laurie turned to her rambling mother, "Relax mother, I meant later on today."

"Oh." Kitty quickly said with a hint of embarrassment that cause the two men in the room to smirk, "Well that's good to here."

"Yeah." Laurie agreed but didn't sound as convinced, she looked up from her coffee and towards her parents, turning on her innocent voice and matching expression, "And I was kinda hoping you could do me a favor when I do tell Fez…"

Having a hunch as to what his daughter was going to say, Red raised his left hand to cut in, "Don't worry Kitten, you just tell me when you're planning on telling Alibaba and I'll grab my hunting rifle and block the room's exit."

Kitty's eyes widened in fear as she looked over at her husband, the grin on his face was doing nothing to settle her nerves. Meanwhile Hyde smirked and nodded in amusement, today was going to be a very interesting day he just knew it.

"Daddy, no." Laurie was quick to reply, "I want to do this on my own. I was just hoping that you and Mommy could watch Lucy while I tell Fez everything." She paused for a second or two before explaining, "I don't know how he's going to react when I tell him about Lucy and well…just to be on the safe side. I don't want her to see anything…I don't want her getting hurt because of something I did…um didn't do…you know what I mean."

Kitty smiled a gentle smile, "Laurie, I really don't think you have anything to worry about but if it'll make you feel better we'd love to spend more time with our granddaughter, right Red?"

"Sure." The bald man seated in the armchair nodded, "We'll watch the kid. Just let us know ahead of time, your mother's nurse is coming some time during the day today."

"At two o'clock." Hyde was quick to inform.

The fact that Hyde knew the information off hand didn't surprise either of his surrogate parents; Kitty let out a soft giggle and Red smirked just slightly. Laurie, however had no clue as to why Hyde would be keeping track of the time her mother's nurse would arrive but it made her very curious and the expression on her face showed it.

Hyde didn't like the responses from any of his adopted family members, it was bad enough he'd lost his Zen in that moment of thinking of Angie…maybe he could regain a little of it back.

"Or you know some time around that time. Two-ish." He said leaning back in his chair and letting a thin veil of Zen cover his face.

None of the Formans looked fooled as they stared back at Hyde, even the youngest of them all gave a little giggle causing the rest of them to join in in the laughter. It was then that Hyde realized the only way to make this better was to change the subject.

"Hey Laurie, you think you could lemme know when you're gonna tell Fez too?" Hyde asked and Laurie opened her mouth to make a remark about the visiting nurse she'd yet to meet but Hyde continued, "Wanna get goof seats and all, heard it's gonna be one heck of a show."

The young mother scowled slightly, "You know what good show you'd be perfect for? Annie. I mean you've got the whole orphan thing and frizzy hair thing nailed, just talk to Eric about the high pitched voice thing and the part will be yours!"

Hyde furrowed his brows at Laurie's insult, however instead of coming up with his own burn he turned towards Red. After a few seconds of feeling eyes upon him Red turned and saw Hyde, he then raised his eyebrows.

"Oh now you want me to stop her." Came the words from his mouth.

Kitty's smile grew as she watched the interaction between her family; these were they types of moments she'd always hoped would surround her in her last days. All that was missing now was her baby boy Eric who Hyde had assured would be coming in upstairs with them soon, so Kitty didn't fret over it too much. And of Jackie and her other basement babies were MIA in this moment. But they had all taken time from their lives to come visit her and had even worked out a whole shifts plan to help them spend more time with her, another thing she was grateful for.

Suddenly Kitty was pulled out of her thoughts as she felt a small pat on her leg. She turned to her left and was met with the sight of her granddaughter looking up at her and holding up her hash brown in her hand.

"Grandma hungry?"

The corners of Kitty's mouth tugged upwards at the kind little gesture, "Oh no Lucy, your Uncle Steven brought that up for you to eat sweetie."

"I share." Lucy replied in an innocent voice that unlike her mother's was not fake.

Kitty's smile grew at her granddaughters generous offer, however before she could make another protest her own daughter cut in gently lowering Lucy's hand that held the breakfast food.

"Lucy, baby," Laurie began to say, not knowing how to explain this complicated situation to a three year old, "Grandma's not feeling good right now. And eating anything right now will make her tummy hurt." She paused figuring that was a well enough explanation, "So why don't you finish eating your breakfast now and Grandma will eat later on, okay?"

Lucy's brown eyes stared up at Laurie's blue ones as she nodded, "Okay Mommy."

Seeing her daughter's smile and the fact that she'd quickly understood and didn't go on with a million and one questions as she normally would have, made a grin break out on Laurie's own face. However, when she turned her attention away from her daughter and caught a glimpse of Hyde, she saw him slowly and slightly shake his head back and forth causing Laurie's smile to fall. She knew what he was telling her.

He was telling her that Kitty wouldn't be eating later on. He was telling her that she hadn't been eating. He was telling her that her…their mother was getting worse.

Lucy noticed the sadder change in her mother's expression but seemed more interested in reality that she was no longer watching or paying attention to her. The blonde haired toddler saw this her moment, and she looked back at her grandmother—with her hash brown still in her hand—ready to make another attempt in getting her to eat. This time though she decided to take a different approach, a more familiar one to her.

"Open up for the choo choo twain." She said smiling brightly as she moved the piece of food towards Kitty in a motion that was to be similar as a train's; just like her mom did with her when she wouldn't eat her vegetables.

The actions earned a giggle from Kitty and even Hyde and Red had faint smiles on their faces from the scene. Laurie on the other hand, didn't look as amused and her eyes widened slightly.

"Lucy." She lightly scolded.

But Lucy ignored her mother, "Choo Choo!" she said happily moving the hash brown patty even closer to Kitty's mouth.

Not wanting to break the poor dear's heart and still not being able to hide the smile on her face that Lucy had put there, Kitty gradually opened her mouth and took a bite of the potato breakfast. It was a small piece so hopefully it wouldn't cause her to get too sick, but it was big enough for her to be able to taste and enjoy the bite and most importantly big enough to make Lucy happy.

"Yay!" Lucy cheered excitedly while clapping her hands.

The adults in the room smiled along with her and Hyde even found himself clapping his hands as well. Maybe not as fast as Lucy but still clapping.

"Well Kitty," Red began to say with his smirk in place, looking from his wife to his granddaughter, "Looks like we've got a new number one favorite."

Though Lucy wasn't quite sure what it was her grandfather was talking about, the happy expression he was looking at her with made her even more wound up and she began to clap faster her smile now twice the size from before. This caused Kitty to release her own girlish girl as Red chuckled with delight.

However not everyone was happy about the made statement. The minute the words left Red's mouth, two set of eyes widened before deep frowns became intended on two different foreheads.

"Hey!" both Hyde and Laurie exclaimed together.

0o0o0o

Back down in the kitchen, breakfast was just about over and already over for some people.

Kelso had now given up on trying to sleep while holding his head in his hand and had laid his head sideways on the table as he peacefully slept with his mouth wide open. While Kelso's snores filled the air and his drool started to pool over the table, his bestest buddy Fez was throwing tiny, balled up pieces of the paper back into his mouth—missing shot after shot.

Next to Fez sat Brooke who was busy trying to get her daughter to finish eating the rest of her breakfast. Donna sat in her seat at left side of the kitchen table and seemed even less interested in her meal than Betsy seemed to be with hers. The blonde had hardly touched any of the breakfast foods but did take quite a few sips of her coffee.

Standing up, having already finished their breakfast, were Jackie and Eric. Jackie stood by the sink with a pen in her hand a small notepad under that while Eric was deep into the open and empty refrigerator.

"Um ok, we also need milk…cheese…" Eric said while looking into the ice box and trying to picture the items that should have been there, "butter…and cream."

Jackie nodded as she wrote down the items before looking up and over at Eric, "Ok, you've given me about ten items so far…"

"Really? Wow, I guess this won't be so hard after all." He replied with a proud grin.

"Yeeaahh." The brunette nodded again letting her eyes travel down the list once more before looking back at Eric, "You wanna try giving me an item that's not in the dairy group this time?"

A shy smile appeared on Eric's lips; he hadn't even realized he'd only been concentrating on that part of the food pyramid.

"Sure. Sorry about that, but you know you forget something once…" Eric began to say, referring to his school project years and years ago, "And never again. _Never again_."

Jackie giggled at his dramatic performance and decided to let him give another shot. Eric smiled back in response before turning himself back around and looking into the fridge once more. But after talking about the dairy group all he could think about was…the dairy group!

Eric fidgeted a bit longer, racking his brain for another answer but all he could come up with was a weak, "Yogurt?"

The grin on Jackie's face dropped and she rolled her eyes at Eric's words. Not only was the item he'd given her another dairy product but it was one he'd already given her minutes ago! She scanned her eyes around the kitchen and suddenly realized she had a lifeline in the room that she should have thought to use sooner.

"Hey Brooke." She called out getting the taller woman's attention, "Do you think you could help us come up with a list? I mean I know we're in Wisconsin but this is seriously a lot of dairy." She added lifting and waving the notepad in the air.

Jackie's actions earned a laugh from both mother and daughter as Brooke nodded her head, "Sure thing. But I think you should probably figure out what you're planning on doing with the stuff you're gonna buy before you actually buy it."

"Well I thinking…"Eric started to say and then lifted up his open palms, "and this is just a thought, but eat it."

Instead of giggling or shaking her head when she heard what Eric said, Jackie nodded along with the statement. She never was one to do much of the grocery shopping even when she was living on her own those few couple of months, she'd always come over to the Forman's…for some of Kitty's home cooked meals.

And while there was no laugh coming form Jackie, one did manage to escape Brooke's lips, "I know that. But what kind of food do you plan on making? That way we can come up with the ingredients needed to fix that meal."

"Oh." Jackie said, now understanding more of what Brooke was saying but not having any idea of what type of meal to reply with. She looked over at Eric who seemed to be in the same place was.

"Well I guess we're not really looking to make any big meals or anything." Jackie explained, which really was true; she still had yet to run the idea of someone else cooking in Kitty's kitchen with Red, Hyde, and Kitty herself. "Maybe just like the necessities, things that can hold us over for awhile…let us be able to make a sandwich everyone in awhile."

Brooke nodded, "Alright, well when ever Betsy and I go to the market we always make sure to buy a loaf of bread, eggs…"

"Ice cream!" Betsy's childlike voice shouted

Eric and Jackie both smiled as they watched the littlest Kelso showing her side of Kelso while also showing how much time she spent around her Uncle Fez. Betsy' mother meanwhile, was still on top of keeping her daughter's manners in check.

"Ice cream….?"

Instantly the missing word clicked in Betsy' brain and she gave her cutest smile towards her aunt and uncle, "Ice cream pwease."

"You mean chocolate ice cream?" Eric asked curiously and Betsy eagerly nodded her head, which caused Eric's smile to grin, "I think that then can be arranged my friend."

As she watched her Uncle Eric step towards her Aunt Jackie and take the pen out of her hand and then begin to write a word of the notepad—that she could only assume was 'ice cream'—Betsy nearly began to bounce up and down in her seat causing the women in the room to laugh.

Well maybe not all the women in the room. Though Donna had kept an ear out on the conversation, her face remained in a straight and serious manner. She poked at her untouched takeout breakfast as she heard the laughter; she knew it was a high spirited, happy moment but she just could seem to find any happiness in it for herself.

"I'm gonna go down to the basement and watch some TV." She announced as she stood from her seat, and the laughter and carefree energy soon died down, "I mean if you guys are going to the store today, I think I'd rather eat that stuff that more _McDonalds._"

Jackie stared back at Donna and nodded her head before quickly turning away, she'd felt a small feeling of guilt when she looked at her friend and she wasn't exactly sure where it'd come from. Was it because she was the one who bought _McDonald's _again? Was it because she was laughing and making some little fun memories while Donna remained alone and miserable at the kitchen table? Or was it something else? Something more?

Eric was quick to catch on to the way Jackie had avoided eye contact with his ex-girlfriend and really he didn't blame her. They were all feeling some sort of awkwardness, but hey couldn't let that feeling get to them or else that would be all there was. And awkwardness just made things worse, they really didn't need any more worse.

"Donna, are you…" Eric started to ask but by the time he turned around Donna had already long ago vanished into the basement, "Ok."

Clearing her throat Jackie tried to get the conversation back on track, "I there anything else you can think of Brooke?"

"Maybe you could get a couple of snacks and junk food sort of. That way we can eat some of that during the day and the lighter meals like sandwiches will fill us up more." The young mother began to explain, "Some chips and soda could be good. And maybe some of those _Hostess_ snack cake things…"

"And _Foot Loops_, please!" Betsy interrupted again, this time being sure to add in the magic word.

Brooke smiled and nodded her head at her daughter, "Yes and _Froot Loops_. And some popcorn too…"

"Oh and syrup!" Fez exclaimed, as he too joined in the conversation.

Betsy turned her eyes towards the foreigner, "Say please, Uncle Fez."

"Huh? Oh right." Fez quickly said as thing clicked together, he then turned to his friends and put on his best pouty face and clasped his hands together, "Syrup pwwease?"

Not being able to contain herself, Jackie laugh at the foreigner's actions and began writing down the item, "Just because you said 'please' Fez."

"Oh happy day!" he said joyfully, forgetting all about his snoozing friend beside him; suddenly his face turned stern as he looked back at Jackie and Eric, pointing his index finger in almost a threatening way, "But you better not forget my syrup or I will throw my tantrum!"

Brooke saw the uncertainty in Jackie and Eric's eyes, not knowing if their friend was kidding or nor, and she knew it would be better if she informed them rather then have them find out on their own.

"Yeah, you guys better not forget that syrup." She stated in a stern manner, "Seriously."

While Jackie nodded again and underlined Fez's request at least three times in dark straight lines, the kitchen phone began to ring.

"Oh I'll get it." Eric was quick to offer.

Jackie smiled a thank you before going back to discussing the appropriate grocery list with Brooke while still getting shout out request from Betsy and now Fez. It was when Fez shouted out 'a coconut' that Eric gave a small chuckle before lifting the yellow receiver to his ear.

"Hello? Forman Residence."

"Eric?" the voice asked from the other end.

"Yeah this is he." Eric replied, not paying much attention to who's voice it sounded like, his eyes were fixated on a smiling Jackie as his attention was following them.

"It's uh…" the voice paused, "It's Randy."

"Oh, hey Randy." He said into the mouth piece still smiling while still watching Jackie, until abruptly he realize what had just been said, "Randy? Wait Randy, randy? Like Donna's Randy?" he asked his voice starting to get high but at the same time he tried to keep it low so no one else in the kitchen could hear just yet.

Randy chuckled over at his end of the line, "Yeah. Not sure if I'm keeping the 'Donna's' part but yeah it's that Randy."

"Right, right." Eric was quick to apologize as he moved his head up and down, "Sorry, it's just it's been awhile since we've heard from you. We were kind getting a little worried over here." He added with an almost forced laugh.

"Yeah…sorry about that." Randy said, feeling uncomfortable, "Um is Donna there?"

"Oh yeah yeah…of course you called to talk to Donna. Your fiancé." Eric said nervously while secretly seeing if the man he was speaking to objected against his words. He didn't that was a good sign, "Yeah she…she actually just went down to the basement but I'll go get here, hold on a…"

Before Eric could finish his thought Randy spoke again, "Uh no it's ok. I was just kinda calling to check in. If you could just let her know I called."

"Sure." Eric replied, frowning as he wondered why Randy couldn't wait just a few seconds to be able to tell this to Donna herself, "You know Donna really misses you and she's been worried about you too. It's like she'd been sitting at the phone every minute of every hour and every hour of…"

"She's worried about me? And misses me?" Randy asked in disbelief, "Then why didn't she call me? I left her the number of my friend's house and everything."

The friendly smile Eric wore on his face soon fell and he felt himself sympathize for the man on the other end of this conversation. He'd been in his place before, years ago but still he'd been there. He'd had to deal with a stubborn Donna who usually wasn't the one to take the first step especially when it came to apologizing.

"Randy, man," He said with a sigh, "Believe me when I tell you this, Donna loves you and she's so happy when she's with you…"

"But not as happy as she was with you, right?" Randy shot back almost defensively.

"No, no! See that's where you're wrong! _Really wrong_!" Eric continued, as he pointed his index finger up in the air, even though randy couldn't see him, "You should've seen all the things I did to make her mad. I mean I'd tell you them all but my dad would kill me over the high phone bill."

All of a sudden, just seconds after the words left his mouth and idea popped into Eric's head. Maybe if he talked to Randy, helped him patch things up with Donna, Donna would be easier to talk to about the situation and that talk between the two of them would go smoothly ending in much better results. Sure Jackie had told him he didn't have to talk to Randy, and she was right but now he felt like he wanted to.

"Hey Randy, I know I'm not exactly the guy you probably want to talk to right now…" Eric said as he started to ease himself in, "But I kinda know what you're going through…I mean I've know Donna for a long time and most of that time were just friends and not romantically involved. If you want I could offer some advice, try to help you maybe understand her better…figure out the best way to talk to her about this…situation."

"We could meet for a couple of minutes a few hours…you name the time…today, tomorrow." He continued, but was soon cut off.

"No." Randy said and Eric held his breath hoping the answer wouldn't just be 'no.' "Today sounds good. Can't make it right away though, need a couple of hours to fix my hair…and I've got plans with cousins later this evening…One thirty sound okay?"

A mixture of emotions had filled up inside Eric during the past two minutes. First he'd been full of worry as he thought Randy's 'no' was a flat out 'no' to everything. Then as the feather haired man went on to elaborate, Eric had felt a sense of relief and could almost feel his hopes starting to rise. But then he'd said the time. One thirty. The same exact time Eric had said he'd go to the market with Jackie at.

Eric looked on as he watched Jackie as she conversed with Brooke. He really didn't want to stand her up on, especially since he really wanted to go. Still this meeting with Randy sounded like it would be beneficial for everyone. Perhaps he could get Jackie to push back the time for the trip to the store or even postpone their second date.

And if they did postpone their second date…well it would mean a longer wait to the third one, which was a downside, but maybe it would give him the chance to something special…something more special then walking around _The Piggly Wiggly_ together. This talk with Randy could really be favorable in a lot of ways…all Eric had to do was make sure Jackie wasn't wearing any pointy shoes when he told her his plans.

"Um yeah, sure Randy one thirty sounds good." Eric spoke again and then listened to Randy ramble on about the place of the meeting, "Yeah, I know where it's at. Ok…yeah…alright. See you then."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__There you go! Chapter 37 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_How will Eric's talk with Randy? Will it be as helpful as he thinks it will? Will Jackie be wearing pointy shoes when Eric tell her his plan? When will Laurie tell Fez about Lucy? What will happen when Angela comes for another visit? And will Fez get his syrup? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until next time, thank for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, see you next time, and have a nice day!_


	39. I Owe You One

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone! Long time no see huh? I am so so so so soo very very very truly, truly, deeply, deeply sorry for taking so long to update this fic. Things got kinda crazy over here and really busy and then this chapter turned out to be a lot longer than I had planed, once again had to cut the chapter in half and this first part still turned out to be one of my longest chapters ever! Not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing, since I know some people aren't big fans of the long chapter but then again some of you though the last one was kinda short so this could make up for that and the long wait between chapters. Though this chapter could kinda be seen as fillerish, I don't think so really…guess it kinda depends on what you think a filler chapter is. Couple of notes before we star with the chapter, though I know you all are anxious to read it….number one, please remember I am not a doctor nor am I studying to be one, I am still watching House MD but don't ask me about my anatomy class or I could burst into stressful tears lol. Number two. Please forgive me for the super long wait once again, I am really going to try my best, now that summer is near to update more often. Number three, I also want to apologize to you all who aren't the big fans of long chapters, I couldn't find any parts that I could bare to cut sorry! I do hope you all will still review though, I worked hard and late on this one, and I hope you like it. And hey you can review even if you're a first time review of the story! Number four thank you so much for all your support and reviews, they mean so much to me, I love them and you all, and really I can't say that enough! Okay I think I've rambled enough for this AN, So sorry for the long wait and the extra long chapter (though I hope it will it make it up to some of you) please review and Enjoy!_

* * *

_A small thinking frown appeared on Kitty's face as she reflected over her adopted son's most recent question. It took her a few more seconds before she looked back up at the camera, ready with her answer._

"_Breakfast." She said with a smile and a nod, "Breakfast is probably my favorite meal of the day."_

"_How come?" Hyde asked from behind the camera._

"_Well…" Kitty looked upwards for a few seconds as she thought over a few of her reason, she then looked back at the camera with her smile back in place, "There are many different reasons."_

_Hyde smirked, "So say them. We've got time."_

_They did have plenty of time as the day was still in the afternoon. Sure they had already been spending plenty of time on the idea, having started it since this morning; but they had time for whatever Kitty wanted to talk about. Hyde had even made the silent decision that if the day was drawing to a close and there were still things Kitty wanted to talk about or questions he wanted to ask her, he'd extend the filming time into the next day too, and even if need be the next day after that._

_Hyde wanted this video to capture Kitty perfectly or close to it anyway, he wanted the future generation to know anything they could about this amazing woman. But those weren't the only reasons he was more than willing to continue making this film for several days. He was enjoying making this video and not just being behind the camera—which he really did like the feel of—but sitting down with his surrogate mother talking with her, learning things about her and her life that he never would have guessed, and just spending more time with her._

"_Ok, well one of my reasons if because of course breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Kitty said before giggling happily, but a few seconds later her smile fell and she gave the camera and the man behind it a slight glare while pointing a warning finger, "Now don't you roll your eyes, because it is true."_

"_Sorry." Hyde mumbled which caused Kitty's grin to reappear before she continued. _

"_And with breakfast there are so many things you can do for a meal. Sure the same goes for lunch and especially dinner but those are completely different recipes you use to make completely different things. Breakfast is the meal where you can get as creative as you want."_

"_What do you mean?" He questioned. _

"_Well…ok when you think of breakfast there are certain food you think of right?"_

_Hyde nodded, "Right."_

"_Things like cereal, toast, cinnamon buns, eggs, waffles, pancakes, bacon, sausage and all of things along those lines. And you think of those types of foods because those are breakfast foods" Kitty went on, "Now can you imagine if you had those same things every day all cooked the same way as the day before? It would get bland and boring, so you mix things up add some zest into the ordinary breakfast food." She said with a small laugh._

"_Some things you can't do too make too much of a difference to like bacon and sausage but eggs…there are so many ways to prepare eggs." She went on, "There's scrambled, over easy, sunny side up, made into an omelet…Oh and pancakes and waffles there are so many things you can add into those. Just about every fruit can be put in there! Bananas, blueberries, strawberries…oh and then there's also those special Swedish pancakes." _

"_Yeah." Hyde gave a slight chuckle as he thought about the reactions the family usually had when they saw those pancakes, "The infamous Swedish pancakes…haven't seen those in awhile…not sure if it's more of a good or bad thing."_

_The curly haired young man laughed again and Kitty soon joined in._

"_But you know the main reason I love breakfast so much has nothing to do with any of the food made." Kitty shared once the laughter died down, "It's more about the feelings that are there at the breakfast table when all of us are sitting there. And breakfast time really was the one time of the day that I knew the whole family would be sitting down to together, no matter what." Her smile grew a few more inches, "That's another reason I love breakfast."_

"_Sometimes for lunch Red would be at work or you kids would still be at school. And later on as you all started getting older and started going out on your little dates we would see less and less of you all at the dinner table, which was fine really…especially with Red." She said shaking her head slightly, "And me too only because I knew come morning everyone would all be seated at that round table. Even Laurie would eat breakfast with us whenever she was home."_

_Kitty paused for a second or two, "When I was still working, sometimes there would be times I had to work the late shifts and that would mean me missing dinner or even coming home in the very early hours in the morning. But I always made sure that I was home with enough time to make the family breakfast and sit down with you all to enjoy it whether it was some quick scrambled eggs or a few chocolate chip pancakes."_

"_All this talk about breakfast is making me hungry." Hyde shared out loud as he stomach growled to make a point._

_0o0o0o_

Instead of talking to Jackie right away about his plans with Randy and how they interfered with the plans he'd made with her first, Eric decided to go upstairs and join his family for their breakfast and some for some good old family time. And who knew, maybe someone in his parents room would be able to offer some type of advice to him on how to talk to Jackie about him canceling his date…then again with the way he'd reacted to seeing them kiss in that kitchen that night, Hyde probably wouldn't be the best person to do so, but he was the only person in the room that knew about the budding relationship Eric and Jackie had started…so maybe he wouldn't get advice, but he could still but himself some time to think about it by himself.

As Eric made his through the upstairs hallway he could hear familiar sounds being muffled in by the walls and door, and as he neared his mother and father's room the sound became clearer and louder.

While he couldn't help but grin at the distinctive giggle of his mother, when he heard the other three chuckles, his eyebrows knitted closely together as he became curious about what it was that all of them found so funny.

Pushing open the door, Eric separated his brows to their normal place and wore a small grin on his face, ready to join in in the laughs.

"Hey guys," he greeted cheerfully, "What are we talking about?"

The second Eric made his presence known with his statement, the laughter stopped. There was no slow fading away nor was there a tiny giggle erupting when everyone else's laughs had come to an end. It just stopped.

This made Eric nervous and his face showed it—his grin had vanished without leaving a trace of it ever having been there. And of course the five different pairs of eyes staring back at him did little to nothing on settling his nerves.

Hyde cleared his throat, composing himself in his well know serious manner "Nothing, man."

"Yeah." Laurie agreed in that fake innocent tone she had mastered long ago, "At least nothing we can tell you."

Now Eric was beyond nervous. Laurie and Hyde had teamed up together…this was not going to lead up to anything good at all.

This was on the list of cons for having two siblings, but the again it also worked on the pros side of the paper. After all having two siblings meant that you could team up with one of them and go against the other sibling. Most of the time this had been Hyde and Eric ganging up against Laurie and sometimes the occasional Laurie and Eric going against Hyde on his own. However, just as you could easily team up with one of your siblings they could team up and go against you. Sure it was a rare instance with Laurie and Hyde teaming up but it still happened and when it did it left Eric as the odd man out.

Being the odd man out when Laurie and Hyde were teamed up was like being a small creature running in the desert with a pair of vultures circling around you. And just like the small critter, Eric knew the best way to get through the situation…play dead.

"Ok so you were laughing at me." Eric said as he nodded and tried to seem unaffected, "Okay that's fine."

Kitty smiled at the pretense act her son was putting on, it may have been fooling her other two children but not her, "Oh honey we weren't laughing at you…"

"No Mom it's fine." He interrupted with his open palm in the air, "You don't have to cover for these vicious vultures."

Both Hyde and Laurie looked at each other, exchanging the confused looks that had formed on their faces after being called 'vicious vultures' and Eric meanwhile continued with his ramblings.

"Really its fine. And you know why it's fine? I'll tell you why it's fine." He said to his entire family not bothering to wait for a response, "Because it isn't true. Whatever it was that they said it is _not_ true."

Hyde couldn't help the smirk that was making his way onto his lips as he watched the twitchiness of his adopted brother come out again. And the guy was pretty much setting himself up, it would really be a crime to move on to another subject just yet especially when there was still so much fun to be had with this one.

"What's not true, Forman?" Hyde questioned in a clues-like tone.

Staring back at Hyde, Eric began to search his brain trying to think of a stupid stunt he'd pulled in the past that would have them laughing now…there were a lot of them. Maybe it wasn't so far in the past maybe it was something recently…there weren't as many but still a handful. Then again he didn't stay in close touch while in Seattle and even when he did call he kept any embarrassing moments in his life to himself.

Maybe Jackie had told them something, told Laurie something since they'd shared a room the night before. Something that she'd found in his suitcase perhaps? But the only thing embarrassing in there was his Spiderman boxers and his family could pretty much expect that from him so that wouldn't have them all laughing this much. It could have been something he'd left in the bag from the last time he used it. Of course the only time he'd used it before was when he went on that camping trip…oh no.

Eric's green eyes went wide as he figured out the most likely motive behind the roaring laughter from before. And he quickly forgot that he was supposed to be playing dead and went into full Nixon mode. Deny, Deny, Deny.

"I wasn't a Troop Leader for a Girl Scouts group for a year!" he declared

As soon as the words were let out into the room Hyde's burst of laughter followed. Laurie's eyes widened with her own surprise before joining in the curly haired young man's laughter and seeing her mother laugh made Lucy smile and giggle too. Kitty meanwhile managed to keep her laughter inside and even cover her growing smile with her hand. And unlike the others who seemed to find such amusement from the declaration (that was actually supposed to be any but) Red wrinkled his forehead into a disbelieving expression while looking up at his son.

The sides of Hyde's stomach were starting to ache but he continued laughing even as he made his next question, "You were…a…a Girl Scout Troup Leader?"

"No! No!" Eric tired again, but his brother's chuckled only strengthened, "I said I wasn't…as in was not. I was not!"

Despite the young teacher's argument his family's action had little to no change at all; and it was then that Eric realized he'd made a big mistake.

"That's…that's not what you guys were laughing about before. Was it?" he asked his eyes traveling from one family member to the other.

"You should've listened to your mother, son." Red stated with a shake of his head before expanding on his words, "These two laughing hyenas over there thought they'd be able to get some new dirt on you without even trying. And they did it." His frown deepened, "You quit Boy Scouts after a month but Girl Scouts you could do for a whole year?"

When Kitty saw her husband shake his head along with the fact that her other two children's laughter had still not quieted down, she decided to at try to help out her son as much as she could.

"No I'm sure Eric has a very good reason for joining The Girl Scouts, don't you Eric?"

"Yes! Thanks Mom, yeah I do." Eric nodded, happy to have someone give him a chance to explain after all it wasn't as if one day he woke up and thought 'Hey I wanna be a Troop Leader for some Girl Scouts!' That would just be creepy like beyond Fez kinda creepy.

"See there were a group of girls in my class last year and they were all in the same Girl Scout Troop and they had been acting really sad and everything for a couple of days. I asked them if everything was okay and they told me that their Troop Leader was moving away and they were either going to have to find a new one or be split up into different troops." He shared his story as the chuckles coming from his siblings started to diminish.

"I knew how close those girls were so I volunteered to help them find someone but they thought I meant me." Eric went on, "Before I knew it I was holding meetings, handing out badges, going on camping trips, and everything else in between. Then right before the school started again in the fall their old Troop Leader moved back and I stepped out."

Kitty smiled, "Oh, see now that was such a sweet thing for you to do Eric, honey."

Eric grinned back at his mother but that smile soon weakened when Hyde spoke up again.

"Yeah." He nodded in agreement but kept his mischievous smirk in place, "Hey Forman you get to wear the uniform too? Bet that miniskirt showed off those chicken legs of yours real nice."

The young blonde mother laughed again before looking over at her baby brother with wide 'innocent eyes.'

"Gee Eric, it's such a shame we didn't know before. Lucy really loves those chocolate cookies, maybe those cookies we would've bought could've helped you get that brand new tricycle." She said finishing her comment in a baby talk tone of voice.

A self-protective index finger was pointed at the laughing duo ad Eric spoke in a serious matter, "Okay it wasn't a tricycle. It was a trip to Disney World and my girls would have totally won if it wasn't for that cheating conniving Troop 257. Their Troop Leader still has butt loads of cookie boxes in her house that haven't been delivered!"

The hilarity of Hyde and Laurie died down once more as they exchanged puzzled expression once more.

Satisfied that the laughter had finally stopped and seemed to be stopped for good, Eric remembered a certain item in his hand that he had made sure to bring up with him. He walked behind Hyde's chair and then outstretched his arm towards his father.

"Uh Dad, I um brought this up for you." He explained, grabbing Red's attention and causing the bald man to turn towards him and see the folded up newspaper; Red frowned just slightly but what could easily be seen in his face was his surprise. Eric shrugged his shoulders, "Just thought you might wanna read it. Now or later. Either way I thought I'd save you the trip of having to go downstairs."

Kitty's smile grew at the kind gesture her son had made for his father and at the reaction it had gotten from Red.

"Eric, honey that was so very thoughtful of you, wasn't it Red?" she asked happily.

"Yeah, real thoughtful." Red mumbled as he took the paper from his son's hand and started to unfolded then suddenly stopped to look back up at Eric, "The sports section better not be missing."

A smirk grew across Eric's lips as he assured his father, "It's not."

"Good." Came Red's reply before he nodded a strong, firm nod in Eric's direction.

This action made Eric's smirk grow even more. He knew that nod was a Silent Red Forman 'Thank You' and that was just a hard to get as an actual said thank you. And Eric had been at the receiving end of this thank you; he felt very proud of himself for being considerate enough—all on his own—to bring up something for his father. Of course that feeling, along with the grin, disappeared the second his sister spoke.

"You can stop being such a kiss-up Eric." She said as she sent any annoyed look his way, "Mom and Dad already have a new favorite."

By the tone that Laurie spoke in Eric could tell she was no longer the favorite, so with a slightly furrowed brow he turned to adopted brother.

"Don't look at me, man." Hyde replied as he leaned against the back of his chair, with his arms crossed over his chest.

With his small scowl remaining in place Eric looked from Hyde and over at Laurie, he was still confused as to who was his parents' new favorite. It couldn't have been him. And it wasn't Hyde or Laurie…suddenly Eric eyes shifted over to the littlest occupant and only candidate left.

"Lucy?" he asked in surprise.

Hearing her name be called, Lucy looked up and smiled over at her uncle while happily waving her right hand. The grin that had appeared as soon as Eric figured out that Hyde and Laurie had lost their precious titles to a little girl, grew even more when he saw that same little girls actions. Eric stepped forward and through the small passage way between the two armchairs so that he could sit on his mother's bed next to his niece.

"Lucy, you knocked down both Uncle Hyde and your Mommy. High five!" he said happily as he lifted up an open palm into the air; it wasn't long before a small hand collided with his making an audible slap.

Eric cheered again, clearly showing that he had no problem at all with the youngest Forman now being the favorite Forman. Lucy giggled at the silliness of her uncle while Kitty let out her own small laugh at the scene in front of her. And though neither Laurie nor Hyde were fans of the new change noticeable and happy smirks appeared on each pair of lips. Even Red let out the slightest of smiles but of course he kept it hidden behind the raised up paper.

"That's what we call a Double Burn." Eric informed as he looked his niece in the eyes and she simply smiled back.

"Oh jeeze…" Red groaned as he moved his paper down and his annoyed frown could be visible by all, "Don't go teaching her the language of the dumbasses. Her not knowing any of those words is one of the top reasons she at number one." He informed with a pointed finger.

"Red, I don't think those are the only words you should be worried about our granddaughter learning." Kitty said in a warning tone.

Eric turned himself around to look at his father for a few seconds, "Yeah Dad and I think she'll be learning the language sooner or later." He paused and looked back at Lucy with a smile, "Probably a lot sooner since a certain someone is pretty excited to meet her."

Laurie watched her brother as she replayed his words in her head and then suddenly it clicked. Her eyes became large showing her anger and hurt but mostly her anger.

"Oh my God, Eric!" she said angrily.

Quickly after jumping in his seat just slightly, Eric turned his head towards his sister with a puzzled expression on his face.

"What?"

Laurie just stared back at him, "I can't believe you!"

"What?" he asked still confused, "What did I do?"

"You know what you did!"

"No I don't, that's kinda why I asked 'what did I do?'" Eric argued but Laurie only rolled her eyes.

The others in the room didn't give too much concern to the squabble; after all they were used to seeing the two Forman children at each other's throats. Red continued to read his paper while he wife closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Hyde watched his two adopted siblings moving his head from side to side, as if watching a tennis game, each time one of the two spoke.

The only person that seemed affected at all was Lucy, who'd noticed the change in her mother's attitude and tone of voice; but even she stayed in place, though her bright smile had faded away.

"What did your brother do now, Laurie?" Red questioned, never moving his head from behind the newspaper, in a bored-like tone. He'd only asked the question in hopes of putting a quick end to the argument.

Laurie looked at her father but gestured her hands towards her brother, "He told Fez about Lucy!"

Different reactions were created once the words had been said. Kitty immediately opened her eyes as Red moved his paper down and onto his lap. Raising his eyebrows Hyde wondered if this had been the topic that was being secretly discussed when he'd walked into the kitchen earlier. And Eric looked more confused than before.

"Oh Eric, honey you didn't." Kitty said with a small indent made onto her forehead. She knew this had to be a misunderstanding or an accident that led Eric to un-purposely let Laurie's secrete slip out.

Eric swung his head to look at his sick mother—he knew if he could get anyone on his side or at least help him be able to explain it would be her—"No Mom I didn't. I just…"

"God, Eric, don't deny it." Laurie cut in, "You admitted all right now!"

"Eric, how could you do something like this?" Red asked as he joined the argument and to no ones surprise went on Team Laurie's side. "You knew your sister had plans of telling Sqanto herself. This was not something for to go around blabbing about."

"Dad, I didn't blab anything…" Eric began to defend himself.

By this time the argument was getting pretty heated as the family members began to talk over each other, some speaking louder and some speaking much louder than the others.

Lucy didn't feel at all comfortable in sitting in the middle of it all and so she scooted closer to the edge of the bed where her Uncle Hyde was seated closer to in his chair. She didn't say a word and instead just looked at him with her big brown doe-like eyes. Hyde tried his best to avoid the innocent eyes and even keep his Zen exterior in place, but after a few seconds of attempting to do so he realized it was pointless. With a deep sigh Hyde scooted in his chair to reach out and grab the small child.

Once the little girl was seat in his lap, he began to speak, "Don't worry Kid, it's not that bad." He paused and smirked slightly, "You'll get use to this. This is pretty much an every day scene in your Uncle Eric's life."

"Laurie. Mom, Dad. I didn't tell Fez anything about Lucy." Eric finally managed to say without having to speak over anyone else, "Me and Jackie just…"

"Oh great so the midget snobby cheerleader is the one who told Fez, that just makes things so much better." Laurie interrupted in a tone leaking with sarcasm.

Kitty turned to her daughter and frowned ever so lightly, "Laurie, you just finished telling us that Jackie wasn't so bad remember?"

"Yeah, but that was before she spilled the beans to Fez about our daughter." Laurie replied.

Not wanting his mother and Laurie to start up their own fight, Eric jumped in and continued with the point he has been trying to make.

"Jackie didn't say anything to Fez…"

"Because you did." Red stated more than questioned, his angry scowl very much visible.

"No!" Eric nearly shouted, now feeling more and more frustrated with the fact that he couldn't finish a sentence without being interrupted. He took a deep breath before trying once more, "Jackie didn't say anything to Fez about Lucy. And I didn't say anything to Fez about Lucy. All we did was give Betsy, Kelso's daughter, a few little hints…and yeah she's got some of Brooke in her but she's fifty percent Kelso so the chances of her not figuring it out is pretty good."

A look of relief was shown in Kitty's face, happy to find out that Eric hadn't done something that Laurie was supposed to do. Red thought over his son's words before realizing he made a good point about Betsy being half a Kelso, they really didn't have too much to worry about. Laurie meanwhile still didn't look very comforted and Eric noticed this.

"Laurie, I know telling Fez about Lucy is something you've been really nervous about but something you've know you'll have to do." He began to say, "I would never let something this important slip out…and I'm sure the same goes for Jackie. The only reason we gave Betsy those hits was because she was saying she was bored here and we said she could be making a new friend soon…"

"Oh the poor dear." Kitty said out loud, feeling guilty because she was the reason for the young girl being here for so long. She then turned to her own daughter, "Laurie, honey, you really do need to tell Fez soon." She reminded once more.

"I know, Mother." Laurie repeated as she heard her mother's statement that she swore she'd heard a hundred times already, "But I am not going to rush into telling him just because Kelso's daughter wants to become Lucy's new friend."

As she heard her name and then the words 'new friend' Lucy's ears perked up and a smile sprang to her face.

"New friend for me?" she asked excitedly as she just about jumped from Hyde's lap and back onto the bed to be closer to her mother. "Mommy, Mommy when? When Mommy? Where new friend Mommy?"

Eric chuckled at his niece's actions as she bounced up and down and repeated her questions over and over again each time with more excitement than the last. "Looks like you've got this one, sis."

Laurie snarled at her brother for a second or two before trying to settle Lucy down a bit. Seeing that the argument was over and done with, Red shook his head in attempt to hide the tiny smile his granddaughter had place on his lips and lifted the opened newspaper back up. While Hyde stayed comfortable in his seat as he watched the scene in front of him, the corners of Kitty's mouth had shifted upwards at the same sight of her daughter and granddaughter.

All of these actions were caught by Eric but it was his mother's that caught his eye and he scooted himself up to the head of the bed beside her.

"Hey Mom." He greeted with a smile, "How're you doing today?"

Kitty gave her own smile, "I'm doing okay, honey. A little tired and feeling abit weaker." She said before grabbing his hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze while her smile grew, "But having you kids here, make me feel so much more wonderful."

"I'm glad." He said honestly, "Did you eat anything yet?"

"I had a bite of a hash brown but that's really all my stomach can handle right now." Kitty explained.

Eric nodded while avoiding looking his mother in the eyes, afraid that the look in his eyes would give away how much those words tugged at his heart. Then suddenly he looked up at her when a new thought entered his mind.

"But maybe you'll eat something later on?"

Not wanting to disappoint her son—especially when he was looking at her with such a hopeful face—Kitty nodded, "Maybe."

"Hey Forman," Hyde, who had been over listening on the conversation, called out, "don't forget it's your turn to pick up dinner tonight."

It was at the same moment that Hyde gave his reminder to Eric that Laurie managed to quiet down her daughter, causing the blonde to hear the complete statement and become confused. She looked over at her brother and saw him nod and instead of getting some clarity she became even more befuddled.

"Pick up dinner?" she decided to ask.

Hyde nodded, "Yeah. What? You didn't think you were the only thing that every got picked up every night in Point Placer, did you?"

"That's not what I meant, Orphan." Laurie responded with a snarl, "I meant why are you picking up dinner? Didn't you just pick up breakfast?"

Eric decided to take the lead on this one, "Yeah but we usually all do our own thing for lunch and there's no other meal between the two." He paused for only a little bit, "Well unless you count brunch and linner."

As her annoyance with her brothers grew Laurie rolled her eyes and looked over at her parents for better explanations. Though Red stayed behind his paper Kitty looked back at her daughter and began her explanation.

"Laurie, it's just, no one staying in the house right now has exactly mastered the art of cooking…or at least come too close to it, besides Brooke and myself." She started, "And I've got a few watchdogs who will remain nameless and who won't let me out of bed unless it's to use the restroom."

"Because you're supposed to be resting." One of Kitty's watchdogs stated from the other side of his paper.

Shaking her head lightly, Kitty continued, "And you know how I feel about people cooking when they're the guests in the house. Take out food is just the best solution right now."

The blonde nodded understandingly before an idea popped into her head causing her face to light up, "I could do it! And I use to live here so technically I'm not a guest. I could cook!" she exclaimed happily.

Meanwhile the expressions on her family members—excluding her young daughter—did not match her tone of voice. Instead uneasy looks and looks of worry and even fear were given out; still they didn't seem to affect Laurie's current bubbly attitude.

Finally one of them managed to make out a few words.

"Laurie honey, that really is so sweet of you to offer." Kitty began to say, "But don't you already have enough to worry about? With telling Fez about Lucy and all?"

"Your mother's right. Besides Kitten, the take out food really isn't that bad." Red added in a fib at the end.

Ever since Kitty had gotten sick and started with her stays in the hospital, Jackie, Hyde and himself had become quite familiar with all of Point Place's fast food restaurants. They'd have to have gone through the entire menu of one take out place at least once or twice since then. Before the cancer, a picture of a big greasy Fatso Burger would have his stomach growling, now the mere thought of one made it turn. But eating take out food, Red knew, was something he was going to have to get use to.

Eric nodded carrying on the conversation, "Yeah, plus I don't think anyone would look forward to a trip to the hospital."

"Except maybe Kelso." Hyde added and Eric nodded in agreement.

"I can cook. I cook for me and Lucy all the time in Milwaukee." Laurie shared out loud while glaring at her younger brothers, he face softened though when she turned to their mother, "I can do this, Mommy. I want to do this. I wanna help you and Daddy out too."

Eric watched the two female members of the family and the expression on their faces. Laurie was staring back at their mother with a sincere and almost pleading look in her eyes, she really did want to do this for them. A tiny smile moved up on Eric's face when he saw his mother's face, she was obviously thinking and considering the offer. This made Eric happy to see because it made him feel better about the possible outcome that could happen when him and Jackie went grocery shopping and when Brooke starting cooking as well.

A small sigh was released before Kitty spoke, "Well I suppose it wouldn't hurt if you cooked a few meals here and there if you really wanted to."

"Yay!" Laurie cheered and the gleefully clapped her hands together getting Lucy to quickly join in and making Eric' grin grow even more.

One of the children in the room, however, didn't look all too happy.

"Wait a minute, seriously Mom?" Hyde asked with a frown set in the forehead, "You're seriously gonna let Laurie cook in your kitchen."

Laurie turned to her adopted brother with her own frown in place, "I can cook." She repeated her argument.

"Giving people breath mints is not cooking."

"You could use a breath mint." The blonde retorted as she pulled her daughter closer to her.

When he saw hat both his siblings were now distracted Eric decided that this would be the best time to change the subject. While he was glad that his mother was considering letting someone else do the cooking, Hyde was still obviously having a hard time. However seeing that Hyde was still being difficult with the subject Eric realized that when the time came to tell Kitty or even Red about the plans of grocery shopping and Brooke cooking came up, they would make sure Hyde wasn't in the room.

Remaining silent Eric began to try and think of a new conversation starter that would move away from food and any type of cooking; but before he could say a word his mother beat him to the punch.

"How about you honey?" she asked looking over at him, "How's your morning been?"

A small scowl appeared on Eric's forehead as he tried his best to come up with a word that would best describe the way his morning had been. It had been a pretty crazy and eventful one, but he couldn't tell his mother that or she'd ask for details and there were certain details—like him checking out Jackie, the plans about Brooke cooking, and the phone call from Randy—he didn't want to share with her just yet.

"It's been…interesting." He finally said and Kitty smiled in response, "Yeah, there's been a lot of interesting stuff happening since I woke up next to Fez earlier in the morning…"

When Hyde heard the last part of Eric's statement, he just could resist. He turned his head to his surrogated father and smirked, "Hey Red, did you hear that? Now both your kids have slept with Fez?"

Laurie sent the curly haired man an evil looking snarl while Eric's eyes went wide while he still frowned a look that said, 'What the hell man?' but these actions only caused Hyde's smirk to grow with amusement.

"Terrific." Red replied dryly, never looking up from the sports page that he held in his hands.

Eric continued to send over the same expression to his grinning like the cat that ate the canary brother, until his felt a light pat on his leg and looked to his left to find his mother smiling at him.

"What about everyone else?" she asked. While she loved having her family in the room with her, she wished she could be out of bed and in her kitchen spending time just talking and cooking up a big breakfast for her family and other basement babies. "What are they up to?"

Eric cleared his throat as he leaned back against the head board making himself comfortable, "Well…the last I saw them, Kelso was asleep and creating a pool of drool on the kitchen table…"

"Oh jeeze…" Red groaned in annoyance, still behind his paper, while Kitty let out a tiny giggle.

"Jackie and Brooke were talking about some stuff…" he said not wanting to revile that the stuff the girls were talking about was grocery related, "Fez went down to the basement to play _Hungry Hungry Hippos_ with Betsy…"

Laurie couldn't help but smile at that part of Eric's summary; it gave her hope for when she'd tell him about Lucy.

"And Donna was down there too watching TV I think." Added Eric.

Kitty nodded along and smiled until to realized someone had been left out in Eric's summing up. A small frown appeared on his face as she waited to see if more would be added by her son, but there was nothing but silence—causing her frown to increase.

"What about Randy?" she finally asked.

Eric's face dropped as he remembered that his mother didn't know about Randy not being here. She didn't know about why he had left. She didn't know about the big showdown in the living room the night Red had returned. She didn't know about him and Jackie getting caught kissing in the kitchen. She didn't know about him and Jackie.

The young teacher turned to the record store owner in hopes of getting some help, but only saw the other man's straight and serious expression on his face. Eric wasn't sure if this was his Zen, covering how he too was panicking on the inside or if it was his Zen look that was telling Eric that he was the one who caused the mess so he was going to have to explain it.

With her own frown of confusion Laurie looked at the two young men, "Who's Randy?"

"He uh…he came with Donna." Eric quickly explained to his sister, while still thinking about the best thing to tell his mother about Randy with out getting her upset or giving too much away.

"He didn't just come with Donna." Kitty said looking at her son suspiciously before turning to Laurie, "He's her fiancé."

Laurie merely nodded her head, her puzzled look never leaving her face. Sure, she now knew who this Randy guy was but why didn't Eric say Donna's fiancé? Did he still have feelings for her? And if he did then what was with him spending so much time with the yapping cheerleader. She may have been gone for several years, but when she was home she couldn't recall the two ever spending time together with just the two of them.

"He's a good guy." Hyde said out loud breaking Laurie from her thoughts, "He's pretty funny, kinda dorky though, tall and has really girly hair."

"Sounds like a really bad combination of Eric and Kelso." Laurie remarked.

Hyde let out a chuckle, "Yeah."

Meanwhile Eric hadn't exactly heard his sister's comment—as he was too busy concentrating on other things—and so he had no response. Her son's silence was very unusual, especially after his sister said anything about him; now Kitty knew something was going on.

"Eric, honey," she began, "What happened?"

"Nothing!" Eric quickly replied, almost too quickly and in his high pitched nervous voice. He cleared his throat before talking again, "Nothing really. Randy he's…he's around. I've actually got plans with him today, yeah."

Kitty smiled, "Oh that's good."

Over in one of the arm chairs, Hyde didn't look at all convinced. He remained quiet but did raise his right eyebrow while he eyed his adopted brother skeptically as he wondered what he was up to.

Sensing someone's eyes upon him, Eric turned his head to see the look Hyde was sending him. Not warning to get into the Randy explanation now, Eric avoided eye contact with the frizzy haired man by looking around the bedroom and decided to once more change the topic of conversation.

"Uh…hey Mom where's that photo album we were looking at the other night?" he questioned, while still looking around the room.

"I think it's over on the night stand, right there." She answered while pointing at the nigh table on her right where sure enough the scrapbook rested, "Why?"

Eric reached over and grabbed the book while he gave his explanation, "We didn't get to finish looking at it, remember? And I promised you we would."

"Oh sweetie." Kitty said while smiling at her son as soon as he sat himself back down beside her, "We don't have to do that now."

"I know, but I want to. And I know you do too." Eric replied causing his mother's smile to grow a little more, "Plus I think I remember you telling me…and I quote, 'Even if I was feeling the sickest I've ever felt, I can't think of anything else I'd like to do more than look at old photos of my babies with one of my babies.' Well now you've got three of your babies here and a grandbaby!"

Kitty smiled one of her bright smiles as she realized she couldn't fight back her excitement to look at the old photos with her children, "Well okay then!"

"Great." Eric said returning the smile while he opened up the photo album and looked over at Laurie and Hyde, "Come on you guys…"

"No thanks, I'm not really in the mood to look at old dusty photos." Laurie said, sounding once again like the old Laurie.

"Yeah, as hard as it is to believe I'm with Laurie." Hyde commented, "Think I'll sit this one out, Mom."

The young mother titled her head slightly while staring at Hyde, "What's the matter, Hyde? Are you afraid you won't be any of the pictures?" she asked using her baby talk voice again, "Cuz I know you are. You're in as many pictures as the family dog…wait we never had a family dog….that's right." She said as if suddenly remembering, "That wasn't a dog in those pictures it was you."

Ready for another round with Laurie, Hyde leaned back in his seat, "You know Laurie I'm surprised you even in any of the photos. I thought no form of evil could be caught on film."

Laurie frowned and pursed her lips together, "That's vampires. And if anyone has any similarities to a vampire it's you, considering how much you suck."

"Hey I may suck but it's not nearly as much as you do." Hyde said with his lips curling into another smirk, "Then again I'm sure sucking isn't the only thing you do…"

"Alright that's enough." Red firmly ordered, bringing the paper down to glare and sternly point his finger at the pair, "Both of you get over there and look at the damn photo album with your mother."

Before Laurie or Hyde could reply or make any moment, Kitty spoke up.

"Oh Red, don't force them to do it." She said, sending a slight frown in her husband's direction. "It's alright if they don't want to look at the pictures, I've got Eric here…Oh and Lucy!" she said smiling and then turned to her granddaughter, "Lucy honey, do you want to look at some old pictures with me and your Uncle Eric?"

The little blonde girl's face lit up with a smile, "Okay!"

Lucy then scrambled from her mother's lap and sat her self next to her grandmother, opposite of the side of where her uncle was seated. Seeing the young girl's excitement caused both Kitty and Eric to laugh.

"Lucy you're gonna be able to see some pictures of your mom when she was little." Eric began to explain to his niece, "But you might have to close your eyes for some of them. Don't want you having nightmares."

Although his sister was sending him a murderous look, Eric paid it no attention as he continued to flip through the photo album trying to find the page that he had left off on last time.

As soon as the page had been rediscovered Lucy scooted herself closer to the book while placing her finger over a picture she had her eyes locked upon.

"That me Grandma?" she asked looking up at the sick older woman.

Kitty smiled down at Lucy before moving her eyes two the photo, she knew of course the photo could not be of her but still Kitty was interested in just what picture it was that Lucy thought saw herself in. When Kitty saw what picture it was that had caught the small girl's attention her smile grew.

It was a photo of, of course Lucy's mother back when was a little girl. The young Laurie in the picture was sitting outside on the back porch in one of the red plastic patio chairs that the family had before the flower printed ones that were now outside, she held an ice cream cone in her left hand while she used her right hand to wave at the camera, with strawberry ice-cream smears covering her smiling face. She couldn't have been more than five or six when the picture had been taken and with blonde bouncing curls and bright smile, it was easily understood why Lucy thought it was a photo of herself.

"No honey, that's a picture of your mommy when she was little. You look just like her." Kitty explained in a soft voice and then turned to Laurie, "I knew she looked just like you but seeing this photo, the resemblance is just uncanny…well except for the brown eyes."

Eric nodded in agreement, "And Lucy doesn't look like the devil in a really bad disguise."

Snarling at her baby brother, Laurie scooted closer to her mother and daughter. She didn't exactly want to look at the old photos but knew she'd have to be close by or else who knew what Eric would tell her daughter; besides maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

"Yeah, well I'd rather look like the devil than look like a geek." Laurie said to her brother before pointing her finger at another picture eon the next page, "Look at your Uncle Eric, sweetie."

Doing the same as Lucy, Eric looked at the picture his sister was talking about. It was of the two of them riding around on one of the horse carousels from the carnival when they were little. Laurie was smiling and waving while Eric sat on another horse crying and clinging on to the golden pole for dear life.

A child-like giggle was released into the air, "You look funny."

Turning towards his niece, ready to respond, Eric suddenly stopped in his tracks when he felt something push slightly against his left side. He looked over and was only slightly surprised to see his adopted brother trying to get comfortable on the bed beside him.

"Scoot over, Forman." Hyde ordered, "I can't see."

Eric did as he was told, moving in closer to his mother to make room for Hyde, all the while fighting back a smile.

Having both Laurie and Steven join in on the trip down memory lane made Kitty even happier than she was before, she didn't even bother to try and hide her happiness. Once she could tell that her three children and her granddaughter were comfortable, she grabbed a hold of the left page of the book and turned it over; immediately one picture on the next page caught her attention.

This picture had the same three children that were surrounding her now in it, only much smaller and younger. They were sitting in the backyard sitting at a picnic table that had been covered in newspaper, and in front of each of them was a jack-o-lantern they had obviously just finished carving.

"Oh look at those three cute little pumpkins." Kitty gushed, "Oh and the jack-o-lanterns too." She added with a giggle.

Laurie smiled a ditzy smile as she too fixated her eyes on the photo, "I always loved Halloween."

Hearing their daughter's words caused Red and Kitty to look over at the other and share a small smile as they both silently recalled a Halloween many, many years ago that had changed their lives. Hyde and Eric also smiled at Laurie's statement, but their smiles were more like snickering ones rather then genuine ones.

"This one's too easy." Eric commented with a wide smile.

"Yeah." Hyde nodded in agreement, "You wanna go first?"

The other man shook his head, "Nah… I got her last, you go ahead."

"Thanks man." Hyde said with a smirk before looking over at Laurie, "Of course you love Halloween, Laurie, it's the day of devil worship…you must get like a billion presents."

Laurie glared at Hyde along her laughing brother next to him then opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Eric who'd somehow managed to control his fit of laughter to say a few words.

"Yeah and plus you always did when the award for scariest costume." He reminded, "Even when you weren't wearing a costume."

This time both Hyde and Eric fell into a fit of laughter together, causing Laurie to glare daggers at both of them while she mentally debated over who she should get back this time. She finally decided on Eric, since she hadn't seen her brother in awhile, and she'd already spent most of the past few hours burning Hyde.

"Yeah, well at least I could wear a scary costume. Every time you wore one you'd look in the mirror and start crying."

Hyde laughed even harder while Eric's laughs instantly stopped and he sent a frown towards his older sister.

"You make it sound like a cried through out my childhood." He stated, "And I didn't."

Laurie just stared back at her brother, "You cried for most of it." She paused before making another point, "Besides your just still jealous about me winning all of those contest because they made me more of a winner and you more of a loser, Loser."

Confused by his sister's statement, Eric knitted his brows together as he replayed the sentence in his head and tried to understand it this time around. However he stopped his failing attempt when Laurie reached over and turned the page of the scrapbook.

"Speaking of losers." She said when a picture caught her eye, "Look at these five."

The four other heads that surrounded the album leaned in to get a glance of the picture that Laurie now had her index finger over. Kitty's smile grew when she saw it while Eric and Hyde seemed to be having some mixed emotions about it.

It was a picture of the gang—minus Fez, because he was probably still in…where he was from—at a much younger age (probably sometime during elementary school years). They were sitting on the Vista Cruiser, smiling at the camera without a care in the world.

A young Kelso was seated on the far right of the photo, grinning a big dopey grin and had blurs surrounding his face where his waving hands were supposed to be. Little Jackie was seated next to Kelso flashing a beautiful Burkhart smile, while in the middle of the five was Eric who smiled a large smile as well at the person behind the camera—most probably Kitty. On the left side of Eric was Donna, with her red hair pulled back in a ponytail and her mouth curved into a smile. A younger Hyde was seated next to Donna, his shades over his eyes and a faint smirk on his lips.

"Wow…" Eric staggered a bit, "Wow…I can't believe it."

"Oh sweetie, it's a cute picture." Kitty told him.

Eric shook his head, "no it's not that, Mom. It's just…"he paused, "That car is like…super old."

"Gotta be as old as dirt." Hyde added, showing that he agreed with Eric.

Laurie also found herself nodding as she looked closer at the old family car and then up at Eric, "I can't believe you still drive that thing."

"Oh um…" he cleared his throat uncomfortably, "I don't. I mean, I left it here with Mom and Dad when I moved to Seattle."

"Oh." Was all Laurie could say; this was something she would have been aware of too if she'd come home sooner…she suddenly stopped her mind from wandering in that direction, now was not the time for that. She shrugged her shoulder, as if brushing off the thoughts, and continued the conversation, "I guess I should've figured, didn't think it could make it always from Seattle to here. Does it even work anymore?"

Kitty scowled lightly as she thought back over the family car and her husband's now current project, "Well it's turned on a couple of times of the years but never for more than a minute or two. It's been parked in the driveway for the past three years."

"Yeah, that car's coffin only has a few more nails left to put in." Hyde added.

Hearing his wife and adopted son talk about the Vista Cruiser and its fate in a negative light grabbed Red's attention. He pushed down his paper once more to allow his family to see the stern and serious look on his face as he made his statement.

"That car is working just fine." He declared but then realized that wasn't the exact truth, "Well maybe not now but it will be soon. I almost had it the other day but I had to come back inside…I'll have that car working again in no time."

While Laurie seemed abit puzzled by her father's word and why he was talking so seriously about the old vehicle, the other's had more understanding expressions. They knew the reasons behind Red's motivation to fix and get the Vista Cruiser running again. Kitty and Hyde had seen it first hand, the way he'd spend hours and late nights in the garage, and thanks to Jackie Eric also understood the situation a little more.

"Alright, Red." Hyde said sincerely before reaching over and turning the page to change the subject. Not long after that a photograph on the new page grabbed Hyde's attention.

"Hey I remember this." He said pointing to a picture on the far left of the right page of the photo album.

Unlike the pervious pictures before this one hadn't been taken at the Forman house, instead it seemed to be out on a camping ground, as there were two tents set up in the background some where in the woods. Standing infront of the camp site were Red, Laurie, Hyde, and Eric with fishing poles in one hand a line holding the fish they'd each caught in the other. Red and Laurie were smiling proudly and Hyde's own smirk showed his pride while Eric didn't look all too happy with the fish he'd caught. It was much, much smaller than the other three.

The smile on Kitty's face grew, "Oh that's one of the times we took you kids camping during the last week of summer that one year and Red took you all camping."

"Look!" Laurie nearly shouted while pointing at a part of the photo, "Eric's crying again!"

Eric frowned, "I wasn't crying then!"

"Eric's right Laurie, he didn't cry then." Hyde said and Eric grinned happy to have his brother back on his side, "He cried after the picture was taken and then all the way, just because you caught a big fish and he caught Tiny Tim the Tuna."

While his family shared a good chuckle at the memory, Eric's smile fell again but he quickly tried to defend himself.

"No, I wasn't crying because Laurie caught a bigger fish than I did, it was because Laurie _cheated_ and caught a bigger fish than I did!" he stated loudly why pointing an accusing finger at his sister, as if she would get in trouble now, "Laurie's hook had two worms and Dad said to only use one!"

Laurie smirked a mischievous smirk as she looked at her brother, "Who do you think put the worms on in first place?"

"Dad!" Eric shouted in shock at the elder Forman who'd gone back to reading the newspaper.

Red lowered the paper just abit, "She's my daughter Eric, I had to help her out."

The words from their father caused two different expressions on the Forman children's faces. Laurie sat herself up straight while smiling smugly while Eric continued to look shock and surprised. He didn't understand how his father's claim was supposed to make things better, sure Laurie was his daughter he was his son!

"Haha!" Hyde's laughter broke Eric out of his thoughts and brought him to reality in time to see Hyde pointing his index finger at him, "That's the same look he had when he reeled in Tiny Tim."

Again the bedroom filled with laughter, laughter created at Eric's expense. So while his family let out a few good chuckles, Eric sat and waited for it all to subside, just like the last time…only this time he didn't have plans to try and defend himself, mostly because someone else already seemed to be doing so.

"Oh don't listen to them, sweetie." Kitty soothed while placing her hand on Eric's arm, "You know when I was cleaning those fish, yours was my favorite one to clean because it too the least amount of time."

Eric stared back at his mother; he knew she was trying to help, but by the laughs that continued to escape the other bodies in the room he knew the statement had done more harm than good.

"Thanks Mom…thanks." He said not really sure of what else to say; he wanted to switch to a new topic and the best way to do so would be to turn the page of the photo album.

And so that's exactly what he did. He grabbed the edge of the right page of the scrapbook and turned it to the next pair of pages that just like ones before, were covered in old photographs. Eric scanned his eyes over each of them trying to find one that would be worth talking about and one that would most importantly help them forget about the previous photo. It didn't take long for him to find that photograph.

"Woah." He said as he looked at a photo he was sure head never seen before, "Woah…Mom is that you?"

Kitty looked down at the album and followed her son's finger to the picture he was pointing at. When her eyes landed on it she gave a small smile at the image of her younger self that had been taken during days that were more carefree, days that had been happier, days when she had been happier.

It was another photo that had been taken away from the Forman house, but instead of a campsite as the background setting this picture had a striking scenery of one of the nearby lakes with the sun going down and the sky no longer in it's blue color but different shades of orange and red. The main focus of the picture and thing that had drawn Eric's attention to it was the image of Kitty in the photograph—she was usually the one behind the camera and so was rarely seen in any of the family photographs.

Seeing this photo of her now really made Eric wonder why she had most of the time stayed the photographer instead of joining in and being a part of the actual photo. In this picture that she was actually in, Kitty was sitting in one of the low beach-like chairs farther away from the lake; her sunglasses were pushed up onto of her head and though she was turned sideways, and her whole face could not be seen, you could still see the glitter and happiness in her eyes and smile as she looked out into the body of water.

"Oh that was your father's doing." Kitty began to explain, "He had gotten a hold of one his father's old cameras and thought that since his father was a bit of a photographer that he too had some photography in his blood…of course from this photo you can see how wrong he was." She teased her husband lightly.

Laurie continued to look at the photo of the moment, noticing that this had to be taken when she had Eric were kids, she looked up at her mother, "You look so pretty here, Mommy? Doesn't she, Lucy?"

The little girl moved her eyes to where her mother was pointing at and while she still was a bit confused about who the woman was in the picture she did think she looked as pretty as a Barbie doll; she nodded 'yes' with her head and Kitty smiled.

"You do Mom." Hyde agreed and then turned to the person who'd take the photo, "That's pretty good picture, Red."

Laurie nodded, "It's beautiful, Daddy."

While Hyde and Laurie were busy complimenting both of the elder Formans Eric could seemed to tear his eyes of the photo of his smiling mother; not even when Hyde moved the album slightly close to his side so that Red could get a look at the photograph.

Moving the newspaper down again, but keeping it in his hands, Red leaned over to take a glance at the scrapbook. As soon as his eyes landed on the photograph of his wife a smile appeared on his face and he made no attempt to try and hide it.

"You know," he started to say, "they say it isn't the photographer that makes a picture so breathtaking, it's the subject. And the subject in this photo was breathtakingly beautiful." He paused as he looked over at his life and locked eyes with her before letting his smile grow, "Still is."

Kitty tilted her head to the side and smiled while trying to fight back the tears she felt in her throat, "Oh Red."

"Mom, I can't believe this picture is just in this album….and not even in one of the first pages!" Eric went ton still gazing at the photo.

"Honey, the only reason that this picture is in the album and wasn't just tossed into one of the boxes up in the attic was because of this over here." Kitty explained and then moved her own finger to a part in the picture her children hadn't seem to have noticed yet.

The scene that Kitty was pointing at was closer to the water and therefore looked smaller in size but the subjects could still easily be identified.

There were three small children running up ahead, two girls and one boy—one of the little girl's red hair was flying around in the wind and the other little girl with raven colored hair was clutching onto a small beach bag while the young boy held a shovel and pail. Behind those three was a younger Steven Hyde—still wearing those aviator glasses—holding a plastic yellow shovel like a sword and pointing it towards another little boy who was chasing them all the while wearing a green bucket over his head; the little boy could only be Michael Kelso. And a little farther away from that scene, but still in Kitty's view, was a younger Laurie talking to some other younger boy whose face hadn't been caught on film.

"Man, this picture just got even awesomer." Hyde stated and the other two agreed with him.

All three of them could see the different things that made this photo so unique and so special, and how it had quickly become one of their favorites. It had their mother in it, as she smiled one of her famous Kitty Forman smiles. It showed them as little kids, joyfully running around and acting like little kids. It had their mother watching over them while they played…something that hit home in their hearts with the current situation.

Eric at last looked away from the picture, "Mom, you've seriously got to have this one framed."

"Eric, sweetie, if you like that picture so much you can have it." His mother replied with a smile.

"Really?" he asked excitedly and Kitty nodded, "Thanks Mom."

Just as Eric was about to reach in to give his mother a hug, Hyde spoke up and stopped Eric in his tracks.

"Uh Forman, man why don't you uh lemme take the picture to this guy I know." He began to explain, "He does the photo copies and stuff and this way you can take the original with you but we'll still have a copy over here."

Eric nodded his head, understanding that Hyde took wanted a copy of the photo, "Sure thing."

"Hey Orphan Boy, see if you can get me a copy too." Laurie added, "I think I've got room for another picture on the mantel back in Milwaukee."

While Hyde merely nodded and didn't say one comeback word to Laurie, Eric turned his attention back to his mother.

"Is it okay if I get the picture now?" he asked, getting ready to take the photograph out of its place in the album.

Kitty heard her son's question but it took her a few seconds to respond. She had started to feel a mild pain on her side a picture or two ago butut had ignored it, now the pain was getting worse and she felt another not so good but familiar feeling inside.

"Sure honey." She answered quickly and then turned to her daughter, "Laurie sweetie, um…why don't you and Lucy go back into Jackie's room for a little bit?"

The young blonde furrowed her brow at her mother's suggestion, "But we were looking at the pictures."

"I know, honey…" Kitty started to say

By this time the men in the room had caught on to the difference in Kitty's tone of voice. Red was the first to catch the distressing look in Kitty face, that she was trying so hard to hide, and realized why she wanted Lucy and Laurie out of the room.

Crumbling the paper off to the side, Red stood up from his seat and cleared his throat, "Laurie do as you mother said."

"Ok…okay Daddy." Laurie said in a small voice before standing up from the bed and gathering her daughter in her arms. She heard the seriousness in her father's voice and didn't like it one bit, especially since she had a good idea of the reason behind it.

"Come on Laurie." An unexpected voice said and Laurie turned to see Hyde walk her to the bedroom door, "I'll make sure the coast is clear for you and Lucy."

Not knowing what to say, Laurie gave a small smile to the curly haired man as she followed behind him and held her Lucy in a tighter embrace.

While Hyde stuck his head out into the hallway to make sure things were safe for Laurie and Lucy to make their exit, Kitty's level of discomfort seemed to have increased. Luckily the other two men in the room quickly fell into action. Without having to be told, Eric reached down and pulled up the trash bin he remembered had been used before, and Red rushed into the bathroom to get a glass of water he knew his wife would need.

After quickly filling the glass, Red decided to wet down a washcloth just incase. As the water dampened the small towel Red caught his reflection in the mirror and noticed how much he had seemed to age in these past few days alone. A sudden wrenching noise coming form his wife in the next room broke Red from his thoughts and he quickly turned the facet to the right to turn the water off. He took one last look in the mirror before closing his eyes and releasing a deep breath as he prayed to God for the same thing he prayed for nearly everyday since Kitty was first diagnosed, the strength to help him get himself, Kitty, and their family through this all.

When Red reentered the bedroom he was slightly surprised but very proud to see his son sitting next to Kitty, who was hunched over the trash can, with a comforting hand over her back. But this wasn't the time to say anything about it.

"Steven," Red called out to his adopted son who'd just finished making sure Laurie and Lucy were safe in Jackie's room, "Go down to the kitchen and get Kitty's medication." Hyde nodded and sprinted towards the exit while Red turned over to his sin, "Eric, get that morphine dispenser button for your mother."

Eric nodded, trying his hardest to keep his nerves in line as he searched for the button he'd days earlier had helped his mother with. It didn't take him very long to find the item and when he did he hurriedly but at the same time gently placed his mother's hand around it.

"Mom, here's the button for the morphine." He explained.

Kitty nodded but kept her eyes closed, "Thank you." She managed to whisper without sounding in too much pain.

Eric nodded in return before moving off the bed to make room for his father. He saw that Red was now kneeling beside Kitty and figured the position wouldn't be very good for his father's knees, besides he could always go on the other side of the bed to be at his mother's side again.

It was a good thing he had moved when he did, Eric realized once he was standing over at the foot of his mother's bed, because just a few seconds later Kitty began to call out for her husband.

"Red?"

Quickly Red climbed into the bed beside Kitty and place a comforting around her weak shoulders, "I'm right here, Kitty."

"I hate this, Red." She started to cry as she squeezed her eyes, still in pain, and buried her head into Red's chest, "I hate this."

"I know, Kitty. I know." He whispered back as he tightened his grip just a bit and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

Eric watched his parents and was torn on what to do next. Part of him wanted to step in and see what else he could do to help his mom and the other part of him didn't want to interrupt the moment. Lucky for him though, his adopted brother came rushing back into the room to help make that decision.

"I got Mom's pills, Red." Hyde announced holding up the three different bottles.

The bald man looked up but never let go of his wife, "You wanna open them." He ordered rather than suggested.

"Oh right, yeah." Hyde nodded and then rushed over the dresser so that he'd have a flat surface to put the pills and their bottles as he retrieved the,

He wasn't quite sure why he seemed so jittery and nervous this time around; after all it wasn't like he hadn't helped Kitty before. And this certainly wasn't the first time she'd gotten sick so unexpectedly. Maybe it was because he now knew that an episode like this one could easily be what Kitty's last moments on earth could be like; he'd always felt some form of nervousness or panic when Kitty got sick before but now it was getting so bad that his Zen could barley hide it all.

"Here I'll help you Hyde.' Eric was quick to volunteer before rushing to his brother's side.

After Hyde nodded a silent thank you the two boys stood in silence while Eric opened the orange medicine bottles that of course had the pesky childproof tops on them and Hyde dropped out the needed amount of pills Kitty would need from each container.

"Hey Forman," Hyde said in a soft voice and Eric looked toward shim, "Jackie said to tell you she left something in her room for you."

A scowl soon made it's way to Eric's face, "She did?"

Hyde nodded, "Yeah. I don't know if it's important or not, but figured you might wanna go check it out right now."

The scowl on Eric's forehead deepened. Was Hyde giving him a ticket out of here? Was this some kind of a trick? As these questions and others like them filled Eric's mind he looked behind him and caught the sight of his parents. His mother remained buried into his father while gripping on tightly to his right hand. And Red kept his left arm around her while whispering words that only the two them knew were about, into Kitty's ear causing her to nod along.

The scene tugged at his heart and he shook his head then looked back at Hyde, "No it's okay Hyde. I can…" he paused a rather long pause as he realized the truth of what he was going to say, "I can't handle this. I mean I do want to, I'm trying to but it's hard and…"

"Forman, man, it's okay. Seriously. They'll understand if you leave the room, I'll understand if you leave. Believe me I'll understand. I know it's hard and this is probably nothing like what you saw any of time before with Mom." Hyde said keeping his voice calm, soft, and sincere, "Just go to Jackie's room. Find out whatever it was she left for you and go make sure Laurie's okay, she looked kinda shaken up.

Normally Eric would have argued back and tried to stay but when Hyde mentioned Laurie, he realized that that could be helping his parents out just as much as staying here now could. And if anyone understood what it was like seeing their mother in a way they never had and knowing what thoughts must have been going through his sister's head, it was Eric. Plus he was slightly curious as to what Jackie had left in her room for him and why she had told Hyde to tell him.

"Thanks Hyde." Eric said before patting his brother's back and then headed over to the bedroom door, "I owe you one."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__There you go! Chapter 38 of "Two Weeks" (Finally!) Hope you liked!_

_What did Jackie leave for Eric in her room? Will Laurie start doing the cooking in the house? What will happen when Jackie talks to Red about grocery shopping and Brooke cooking? What will happen when Hyde finds out? And when will Eric tell Jackie about his plans with Randy? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, sorry for the long wait, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	40. I Knew It!

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello all! Long time no see huh? I am so so so so so so a million more so's, very very very very a billion more very's sorry for the extreme long wait but different things just kept happening. First there was school and finals and then there was some family emergency stuff and then my usb went psycho and I really lost a lot of motivation of the story. But it's come back and I am ready to start writing it again as long as you all are still interest and excited to read it. Which brings me to my next point, like I said my motivation for this story was lost and even though it's back it not back in full gear and I've even been debating about closing up this fic/discontinuing it. I really don't want to because I really love this story but if I don't have readers why write it? So if you would like me to continue writing it, really hope you do, or just wanna let me know that you're still reading please let me know in a review or even message. It would mean so very much. And I know I took forever to update—though I have taken longer just ask my MtH readers lol—I am terribly sorry and hope you all will forgive me and are still reading._

_A few more little things before the chapter gets started, please remember I am not a doctor or nurse or anything of the sorts, am I still watching House M.D.? You betcha. Also I want to thank all of the support that you all have given me through out this story, and if you've stuck with me since the beginning (not when it was first put up but from chapter !) high five and a great big hug to you! Really hope you all enjoy this chapter, it's kinda filler but then again kinda not. After all even though this story is about Eric and Jackie and they are two of the main characters they aren't the only characters and one of the main parts of this story is family. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon—anything is sooner that the last wait thought huh? Anywoo I've rambled enough and to wrap you I'd like to saw I am so so sorry for the wait again and hope you all can forgive me and are still reading. Please review and lemme know if you think I should continue or just stop, thanks for all your support, Enjoy!_

* * *

"_I don't believe it."_

"_It's true."_

"_Really?"_

"_Really."_

_From behind the camera Hyde studied the look on his surrogate mother's face as the two of them sat in the kitchen—they'd moved into that room when Hyde had made his statement about being hungry and Kitty had fixed him a plate of a few cookies and a nice cold glass of milk—but he shook his head still not being able to wrap his head around the statement Kitty was making._

"_Yeah, I'm still not buying it." He stated._

"_Well whether you buy it or not, it is true." Kitty said as she smiled just lightly while trying to keep on a serious face, however as she thought back to her statement her smile grew and she repeated it again, "There was a time when Laurie and Eric got along. It may have been when they were younger, much much younger, and it was a short time but there was still a time."_

_With her grin still in place she continued, "Oh when they were little they would play together for hours. And Laurie was such a great big sister, she was always helping and trying to teach Eric new things."_

_Kitty giggled at the old memories of her now grown children, Hyde found himself smirking abit himself but mostly because of Kitty's laugh, he still couldn't grasp the idea of the siblings, who he also considered his own sibling, ever getting along for more than five…ten minutes at the most._

"_Wait a minute." Hyde said halting Kitty from adding any more to her story, "Laurie, your daughter, was such a great big sister and would help and try to teach Eric, your son, new things?" he repeated the sentence she had said, mixing and adding in a few words along with changing the form into a sentence._

"_That's right." Kitty replied._

_Hyde shook his head, thinking maybe he'd been hearing wrong all along. "Sorry, could you repeat that?"_

"_Laurie, my daughter, was such a great big sister and would help and try to teach Eric, my son, new things." She said smiling while trying to hold back a smile; the non-believing look on her adopted son was worth a few laughs._

_Staring back at the woman infront of him, Hyde tired his best to even consider the idea. But it was hopeless and he shook his head again._

"_I'm trying…but I still don't believe it."_

_Kitty furrowed her brow slightly, "Steven I don't understand why it is so hard fro you to believe something that I'm telling you."_

"_No Mom, it's not that I don't believe what you're saying." Hyde tried to explain, not wanting to upset or hurt Kitty in any way, "It's just the thing you're saying now…it's like finding out that Tom and Jerry actually got along."_

_Her frown now long gone, Kitty laughed and shook her head as she looked at her son behind the camcorder. Suddenly an idea sprung into Hyde's mind and he had to ask._

"_Wait… we are talking about Laurie and Eric __**Forman**__, right?"_

_0o0o0o_

"_Then something happened."_ These words, said in an animated tone of voice that must have come from his sister, were the words that Eric heard just as he got ready to enter the bedroom across the hall from his parents' room.

These words also stopped him from just barging into the room. He wondered what Laurie was telling her daughter and why she was using a voice that was so engaging, almost as if she were telling a story. Letting his curiosity take over, Eric carefully grabbed hold of the gold colored doorknob and turned into before warily pushing the door open with a soft hand. Once he had the door cracked to at least an inch and a half he peeked in and was slightly surprised by the sight that he saw.

Sitting on the purple comforter of perfectly made bed while leaning back against the pillows and headboard was his sister with Lucy sitting comfortably in her lap, both of them smiling as their gazes remained fixed on the thin book with the teal colored hardcover that Laurie was reading from.

"_The Snort put that baby bird right back in the tree. The baby bird was home!"_ Laurie continued in her happy and almost comforting voice.

As he noticed that both of the two were distracted and hadn't noticed him yet, Eric decided to push the door open a little more so he could get a better view and hear the story a little better. He didn't know what it was but he felt like he had heard it before.

Laurie turned the page of the children's book and went on, "_Just then mother bird cam back to the tree. "Do you know who I am?" she said to her baby."_

Then it hit Eric…he knew what story it was that Laurie was reading to Lucy. It had a baby bird and its' mother and a snort. He let a grin break out onto his face as he closed his eyes and could just about picture the pictures inside the book. It was one his favorite childhood books. It was a classic. It was '_Are You My Mother?' _A story his mother would read to him time after time. At that bittersweet thought his smile shrunk but he continued to listen.

"_Yes, I know who you are_," said the baby bird." Laurie read using a sweet and innocent voice for the baby bird's voice, "_You are not a kitten. You are not a hen…"_

Eric's smile grew as he heard his sister read the list of things that the baby bird had run into during his journey to find his mother. And as she neared the end of the list and the end of the book, he couldn't help but join her in reading the last line.

"You are a bird, and you are my mother."

Certainly startled by the new and unexpected voice, Laurie looked up from the book and towards the bedroom door to see her smiling younger brother. He gave a small wave but she didn't wave back nor did she return the smile as her daughter did. She just stared back at him with nervously.

Eric could see the uneasy look in his sister's eyes along with what looked something like fear. Those were two emotions he had never seen on or in his sister—well excluding last night. But last night those feelings were caused by her returning home and having to face everyone—mostly their parents; what were the cause of them this time?

Suddenly Eric couldn't help but feel guilty at the thought that the almost frightened look in Laurie's eyes had been place there by him. Maybe he should have just stayed outside in the hallway and not walked in while she and her daughter having a bonding moment…and he probably shouldn't have joined in with the reading either.

"I'm sorry about that Laurie…I shouldn't have…"

"It's fine." The blonde interrupted in a firm tone before turning it gently again and looking down at her daughter, "Lucy, sweetie why don't you go play with your toys while I talk to Uncle Eric?"

The little girl nodded at her mother's suggestion, "Okay, Mommy."

Lucy then scooted off her mother's lap and off the bed before walking over the pile of toys, consisting of Barbie dolls, stuffed animals, and baby dolls, that Eric could only assume were brought from their home in Milwaukee.

While the youngest of the Forman family happily played with one of her baby dolls—pretending to give her her bottle—the two siblings watched each other waiting for the other to make the first move.

Eric was getting more and more anxious as he watched his sister. She wasn't doing anything and he wanted her do something. He wanted her to shout at him, snarl at him, burn him…_something_. Anything but just stare back at him with her own anxious eyes. Seeing his older sister nervous only made him even more nervous.

"You can come in you know." She stated finally breaking the silence but keeping her voice soft.

Nodding his head, Eric cautiously stepped into the purple room, "Thanks…"

"Shut the door!" she snapped at him in a voice that reminded him that she was still the same Laurie he'd grown up with.

"Right, right. Sorry." He quickly apologized as he reached for the doorknob and pulled the door close, "I was just thinking that this is…weird." He shared but when he saw Laurie's confused expression he realized he needed to explain, "I mean, I'm actually in this room, past the doorway, with you sitting right there and you're not trying to get me out of here by throwing things at me or yelling to Dad about how I'm in your room."

He chuckled slightly and Laurie gave a tiny smile as well.

"Yeah, well." She shrugged her shoulders, "It's not my room anymore."

Right away Eric began to feel bad for his sister. He knew what it was like to no longer be able to call your room 'your room,' after all there had been that short amount of time that his bedroom had been turned into a sewing room for his mother. Of course it had been immediately been changed back at Kitty's request when he said he would be returning home from Africa. All the posters were in their places, his Spider-Man sheets on the bed, and every G.I. Joe was accounted for, but he had only stayed in the room a short period of time before moving to Seattle and disappointing his mother again.

And sure Laurie had been away from home for awhile. A long while. A long, long while. But Eric had always though that if only one of their room was to become shrine to their former owners it would have been Laurie's. And he was almost positive that she thought the same thing.

"Sure it is." He started to say as he walked in more and sat himself on the bed next to her, "Yeah, Jackie's staying here now but she doesn't have a million memories that were made in this room, you do though…and that by the way does not mean I want here any of yours…especially anything after…I don't know fourteen?" Laurie snarled at him and Eric could only smile as he went on, "She didn't grow up in this room. You did. This will always be your room."

Laurie smiled in response but it still wasn't a genuine or completely happy smile; and her eyes seemed to be shinning with tears, "Yeah. Just like it'll always be Mom and Dad's room."

Eric felt his heart drop at those words.

They were true. Completely true. No matter what happened, that room they had been in minutes ago would always be seen as his parents' room. Even if someone else moved into it, someone from the family or complete strangers that Red would sell the house to, in their eyes it would remain their parents room. It couldn't be turned into a sewing room or any other kind of room either. And even if Red kept the house and never changed the room into something else, instead keeping it as his bedroom Eric doubted he would ever be able to call it his Dad's room.

"Yeah." Eric agreed while nodding sadly and keeping his eyes on the floor.

"What um…" Laurie started to ask in a small voice while moving her eyes down to her hands and then up at Eric and then back again—she didn't know where to look as she asked the question she wasn't even sure about asking, "What's going on in there?"

By the mere gesture his sister made towards the bedroom Eric was able to figure out what it was she was referring to; however he couldn't figure out the best way to explain it, especially since he wasn't exactly sure what was going on in his parents' room now. All he knew was that Hyde and their father were trying to help their mother in all the possible ways they could, with their words, pills, and the morphine. But it didn't really matter what they or anyone did, they wouldn't be able to put a stop to Kitty's pain that had been cause by the cancer that was killing her.

Eric swallowed nervously as he tired to gather up some words to use in his answer to Laurie's question but she spoke up before he could open his mouth.

"I mean…Mom…she'd gonna be okay, right?"

As soon as Eric heard Laurie's new question he wished she had stayed with the first one. This one was may have been a little easier because he knew the answer, but because he knew the answer it made it hard for him to say it out loud.

Not wanting to see the somber expression that appeared on her younger brother's face after she'd asked her question, Laurie looked at her lap while waving her hands slightly, regretting ever opening her mouth and asking both of the questions.

"You, you don't have to answer that." She said just as Eric was about to utter a word.

Eric wanted to let out a sigh of relief, he nearly did too, but when he saw the sadden look on Laurie's face and the way she kept avoiding his eyes he realized relief was the last thing he should be sighing with.

"I know she's not okay…I know she's not gonna be okay." Laurie continued to speak, her voice quivering just slightly, "It's one of the reasons why I'm here…and one of the reasons why I stayed away for so long." she paused and took a deep breath, trying to compose herself, but never even glancing up at Eric, "I didn't think I'd be able to handle seeing her…like that. And I was right, I can't…even if Lucy wasn't in the room with all of us, I still would've left it."

Once again Eric began to feel sympathetic feeling towards his sister—it was still a weird thing to feel but Eric was slowly getting use to it. And besides this time he found himself able to relate and understand where it was she was coming from. He ever so slowly placed a comforting hand on her shoulder—the old Laurie was still somewhere in there and Eric did not want to awaken her, he liked the new Laurie a lot better.

"It's okay Laurie…" he started to say.

The blonde scoffed, "Yeah, easy for you to say. You and Hyde have been the two 'Golden Children' through this whole thing. Helping Mom and Dad out and doing whatever they needed, and me? I was in Milwaukee, raising their granddaughter. Their granddaughter they didn't even know they had, because I didn't tell them."

Laurie dropped her head into her hands and Eric began to feel more than sympathetic feelings towards sister. He wanted to help her, make her feel better…but he didn't know how.

After taking a few seconds to think it over, he remembered something that had always made his sister smile. Back when they were kids and when they were teenagers, and even though they were now adults Eric was still pretty sure it would at least get a smirk from her. That something? Knowing she was The Favorite.

Of course a new favorite had been made only minutes ago, and all the things that Hyde and Jackie had been doing for Red and Kitty definitely earned them some top spots on the list. But when it was just between him and Laurie, she could very possibly be number one. And so he began to think of the things he could share with Laurie that would make her see she was still their parents' number one biological child and most importantly help boost her confidence that she seemed to have misplaced.

As he started to make up a list of things Eric suddenly remembered what Jackie had recently told him about not putting himself down—and sharing with his sister all the mistakes and things he'd done wrong lately would absolutely count as putting himself down. It made him smile when he thought about how Jackie cared about him and just when he thought about Jackie in general.

Bringing his thoughts back to Laurie, he knew this would be one of the best way to give her a moment of happiness and right now he knew she could use as many as she could get. And the same went for himself but he was getting help with that from a certain brunette pixie.

Eric lifted his index finger and pointed it at Laurie, "Yeah, but see you live in Milwaukee. I live in Seattle. That's miles and miles and well, miles away from here. You live much closer to Mom and Dad."

"That's true." She nodded, lifting her head up, but before Eric could take any pride at making his sister feel better she went on, "But they knew you were in Seattle. I never told them I was living in Milwaukee. I was living not four hours from them and I never called them, never wrote, never even visited. I just…I just hid."

This was going to be a lot harder than he thought. But Eric did still have a few points he knew he could make and Laurie's last words had reminded him of something else that he could share with her and possibly help her feel better about herself. And even if not, he figured it should be something she as his sister showed know about.

Breathing in a deep breath Eric began, "You weren't the only one who hid."

Despite the fact that Eric had spoken the words in a soft voice Laurie still heard them and they caught her attention. She looked over at him, finally making eye contact with her brother—her way of telling him to go on.

"I was living in Seattle for awhile already when Mom first got diagnosed." He started to explain, "I came home for her first two or three surgeries…and believe me you didn't miss out on anything. Those surgeries…all of them…there was nothing any of us could do except sit in that small waiting room and read old magazines, pray our hearts out, or just watch the clock. Those few hours waiting were some of the longest of my life…"

Eric slowly started to drift back to those moments when his mother's cancer was still in its beginning stages, back when he thought those hours of waiting would be the hardest things he'd ever have to deal with. However, before he could fall too far into his thoughts he brought himself back to the subject he was speaking of and started talking again.

"They were pretty much….emotional roller coasters. After those first few I…I stopped coming. I would just wait for either Hyde or Dad to call and let me know how things went. And even then I usually let my answering machine pick up, just incase it was bad news." Eric confessed, feeling guilty about the fact that he hadn't been there for all of his mother's surgeries—and of course this wasn't the first time.

"I mean I still came to visit her and see how she was doing and just spend some time with her; I had this…system, where I would only come home during the times between surgeries. It worked out really good for a while…until…until this one time I came to visit her."

As Eric sat mutely, staring down at his clasped palms, Laurie just sat quietly beside him. She wanted her brother to continue with his tale but by the looks of it, it was getting hard for him to go on. And seeing how difficult this was for Eric to talk about caused Laurie to second guess her thoughts about doing anything to urge him on. She wasn't so sure she wanted to know anymore.

"She hadn't had any type of surgery but she must have been going through some of the treatments." Eric went on, keeping his voice soft and low, "When I saw her she…she looked so tired and feeble, her hair was falling out and even though she was still smiling she didn't have that sparkle in her eyes you know? She…she just…she just didn't look like Mom, Laurie."

Laurie pressed her lips together tightly as she blinked back her tears that had formed because of her brother's words and the tears that had started to form in his own eyes.

But Eric still wasn't done.

"And just like you, I couldn't handle seeing her that way either." He explained now looking over at his sister, "After that my trips back here happened less and less. Sure I still called every so often but… I missed a lot of holidays and a few birthdays, and even when Mom would call me and tell me just to come over for a weekend…if I knew she was sick I wouldn't come."

This was where Eric had intended to end his story but as he finished his statement he found himself feeling slightly surprised. He had managed to say all the things he'd wanted to say—that alone was a pretty big surprise—but Laurie had never interrupted him. Never added in an insult or a jab or any kind of comment. She just sat there and listened.

It was safe to say that Eric was feeling a close connection to his sister for the first time in…well almost ever; and so he decided to share with her another piece of his story.

"Don't go telling Dad…he still doesn't know about this." He state nervously, this connection with Laurie felt nice but the old Laurie, the one who tattletale on him to Daddy, was still something that frightened him. He took another deep breath, "I almost didn't come this time."

Silently Eric sat and waited for either a mocking remark or victory comment to come out of Laurie's mouth, but to his surprise she seemed to be just as quiet as he was. And when she finally did speak up her voice was just barely audible.

"But you did." She reminded as she shifted in her seat, "And you got here days before I did."

Laurie's words made Eric realize that the task of trying to make her feel better was going to be a harder task than he thought it would be. He still knew that the best way to make her feel good about herself would be to have her at least think she was the favorite child again, and that meant sharing even more of the details of the things he had and hadn't done for their parents through this whole cancer thing. Coming up with more things to share wouldn't be too hard—he was Eric Forman—and those first few days home were so disastrous if it hadn't been for Jackie he probably would've left back to Seattle long ago.

"Yea and the first day I saw Mom couldn't have gotten any worse." Eric began to share another story, "I had to sneak past Hyde to go see her and she looked sick but not like she does now…we were able to talk for a little bit. But then she started with his pain, a pain that was nothing compared to what we saw a few minutes ago." He made sure to point out, "And I didn't know what to do…so I ran."

Knitting her brows together Laurie stared at her baby brother.

"I didn't try to help her. I didn't get any help for her. I didn't say anything to her. I just…ran."

Eric fixed his gaze down at his hands again, feeling ashamed of his action from that day all over again. Even though it had been almost a week since it had happened and he'd been doing so much better since then, he'd even apologized to his mother for that and all his other actions, he still couldn't help but feel as big as an ant when he thought about the way he'd acted that day.

"You know," Laurie started to say her voice not as soft or gentle as before, "I always thought Daddy was joking all these years, but jeeze Eric…you really are a dumbass."

A light chuckle escaped Eric's lips and he nodded, "Yeah. I'm fifty percent sure if we looked at my birth certificate it would say 'Eric 'Dumbass' Forman.'"

Laurie laughed at the joke before adding in her two cents, "I'd say sixty."

"Yeah." Eric agreed still smiling, glad that to see some of the old Laurie again.

"Mom and Dad really hit the jackpot with the two of us, huh?" Laurie asked putting a small damper on the light mood that had just started to fill the room.

"No. No they didn't." came Eric's reply. He heard the ironic tone in her voice but he didn't think the way both he and Laurie had behaved over the years was even worth joking about, "But the came pretty close with Hyde and Jackie."

It took a lot for Laurie not to roll her blue eyes but she couldn't help the annoyed tone her words came out in, "Yeah, that's true."

This time it was Eric's turn to move his eyebrows closer together showing his confusion and curiousness. It didn't too long for Laurie to catch this look on her sibling's face and when she saw it she heaved a sigh before starting to explain herself.

"Look I'm grateful and everything for the stuff that they've done to help Mom and Daddy out." Laurie began to say in a slightly irritated voice but a more familiar one, "And I know it's our own faults that we weren't here but…it still bugs me that they were the ones doing those things when it should have been us doing them." She paused for a few seconds, "We should have been the ones taking care of Mom this whole time. We should've been the ones helping Daddy get through this. Not Orphan Boy and Chatty Cathy."

He didn't exactly agree on the names Laurie had given Hyde and Jackie but he still found himself nodding along to the other words she said, because he understood exactly where she was coming from. He was glad that Hyde and Jackie had been around to help his parents out—who knew what things would be like if they hadn't been there—but part of him wished he had been strong enough to be there for his parents without needing Jackie or Hyde's help.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." He agreed with another nod, when suddenly light bulb in his head clicked on with an idea that he quickly began to share with his sister, "Hey! We could still do it. Take care of Mom and help dad out, we could do that. Together. Just like we should have done in the beginning."

After hearing that statement Laurie didn't bother holding back her eye roll this time and the same went for her scoff, "Oh yeah, that sounds like a great idea. With you running and me hiding."

Eric heard the sarcasm dripping Laurie's words but decided to pretend like he hadn't.

"See you're already thinking!" he said with a smile and his index finger pointing in her direction, it only caused Laurie to look even more aggravated, "And while that does sound like a great idea. You know what would be an even greater one?" he paused for effect and let his grin grow, "If we didn't run and we didn't hide and…now I'm just spitting balling here, but instead of doing those things we stay there and help each other out just as much as we help Mom and Dad."

Laurie thought over her brother's words…they sounded good, surprisingly, and even made a good plan that could actually work. The fact that the plan sounded good and like it could actually be a successful one wasn't something that surprised Laurie too much. She knew that between the two of them Eric had the brains—she'd never admit it, but she knew it—and that was okay because she got the looks.

Still, as good as the plan sounded Laurie wasn't completely convinced; the look on her face was easily giving her away.

"I don't know, Eric." She started to protest, her voice becoming small all over again, "I don't know what to do in there….and I'd probably only be in the way…"

Having heard these words before when he, himself, had said them, Eric was quick to jump in and argue against the statement his sister had begun to make.

"No, no you wouldn't. I've helped take care of Mom a couple of times already…there's not a lot that we can do." He explained and then paused as he realized how somber those last few words really were. After a few seconds he cleared his throat and continued, "But we can sit there with Mom and talk with her. Help keep her mind off the cancer and the pain."

Uncertain blue eyes looked into Eric's green ones and he placed a reassuring hand on Laurie's shoulder.

"It'll be okay." He assured, "You can do this. We can do this. What do you say, Laurie?"

Eric smiled as he waited for an answer, hoping to get even the tiniest smirk from his sister; but it never made an appearance. And when she finally spoke up with her answer, he knew why.

"No." she answered.

"No?" Eric repeated in a questioning tone.

Laurie nodded, "No."

"Wait a minute, you're saying 'No' but you're nodding. Does that mean…"

"No." Laurie interrupted before he could ask his full question, "It means, no."

"Oh…um okay. Okay." Eric said as he nodded along trying to sound understanding, but in reality was nowhere near giving up.

As soon as she gave her answer Laurie felt bad and thought she should give her brother at least some sort of explanation, "Eric, I don't… "

"No Laurie." Eric cut in with a raised palm, "It's okay. I understand. You're afraid."

Instantly a scowl appeared on Laurie's face, "I'm not afraid."

"Right, sorry. You're scared."

"I'm not scared either." She protested.

"Then you're…that's actually as far as I can go." He said smirking just abit, "I mean I know more words that describe 'scared' but they'd probably only confuse you."

That time Eric struck a nerve and more of Old Laurie started shining through.

"Listen loser, I am not afraid. And I am not scared." She declared scowling an angry and evil scowl in her brother's direction, "And I am not any other word even closely related to 'afraid.' I never said I was."

"Not in so many words." came Eric's reply that was accompanied by a shrug of his shoulders.

Laurie's frown deepened, "No not in any words. I never said anything about being afraid or scared because I am not afraid or scared."

"Well see now, if that were true then when I said that I _dare _you to say 'yes' to the whole helping Mom and Dad out you'd say…?" Eric said waiting for her response and hoping she would say the one he wanted to hear this time.

While looking at him in disbelief, Laurie still managed to give a snarl at the same time, "Are you serious?"

"Not exactly what I was looking for but…"

"You're seriously daring me to help you take care of our…sick mother?" Laurie asked sounding more and more upset.

Eric hung his head almost shamefully as Laurie asked her question. "You're right Laurie, I don't know what I was thinking." He said still looking down; he stayed with his gaze on his lap for several seconds before he slowly lifted his head up to look at his older sister and smirk mischievously at her. "I triple dog-dare you."

Laurie's eyes went wide with surprise before finally recovering, seconds later and giving one of her own trouble making smirks, "Oh you are so on, twerp."

The mischievous smirk turned into a much happier one as soon as Eric heard Laurie's reply. He knew the whole dare thing was pretty risky but when he tried to think of another plan after Laurie said no the first time, the memory of two of them daring each other to do all kinds of crazy things—mostly things that would get the person who did them in trouble—on rainy days when no one could come over popped into his mind. And so he'd just gone with it and hoped history repeated itself.

"Hey," Laurie called out, grabbing Eric's attention and getting him to look over at her, she gave a small smile, "Thanks."

With his own smirk still being held in place, Eric gave a mere nod in response.

"So, _'Are You My Mother_?'" Eric said changing the subject of conversation and gesturing towards the discarded book on the bed, "How many time do you think Mom read that one to us?"

Laurie gave a light snort as she picked up the book, "About a billion."

"Yeah I don't know…" he said displaying a thinking frown on his forehead, "I think it was more like a billion and one."

A smile crept on to Laurie's face as she continued to look at the old book in her hand, "Yeah. Jackie brought it up to me so I could read it to Lucy last night." she shared out loud, " She said it was the only kids book that was down in Daddy's den."

"Really?" Eric asked with his eyebrows slightly raised, "Wonder why they kept that one…and in Dad's den…" he drifted off as he started to think up a reasonable explanation.

But it looked like Laurie had already thought of one.

The young blonde shrugged her shoulder, "I don't know, maybe they kept it where they knew they'd be able to find it. Maybe Mom wanted to read it to her grand…" her smile grew, "children."

Laurie's smile became even larger before she looked away from the book and over at her little girl who was happily playing by herself but after a few seconds felt someone's eyes on her and turned around to see her smiling mother—this of course made Lucy beam and wave her way. Catching this scene had Eric give his own slight grin. He knew that his sister was thinking up an idea and he was pretty sure it was one that involved Kitty, Lucy, and the old worn book Jackie had brought up.

All of a sudden the quick thought of Jackie made Eric remember that besides checking up on Laurie, he was in the room because of something Jackie had told Hyde.

"Hey Laurie, did Jackie say anything about leaving something up here for me?" he asked hopefully.

Frowning a bit Laurie asked, "Something like what?"

"Um…uh…like…" Eric struggled, he didn't know if Jackie had said anything to anyone else about the whole hostage luggage situation and he wasn't so sure filling Laurie in on the situation was the best idea; he quickly tried to make a cover, "Like something."

"Something like something like something?" Laurie repeated in an unconvinced tone.

Eric nodded, "Yup."

"Oh yeah." Laurie replied while sending an annoyed glance her brother's way, "Jackie totally said something about leaving something like something for you."

The sarcasm was lost on Eric and all he heard were the words that Laurie had said and couldn't help but feel a jolt of excitement about them.

"She did? Where is it?"

Laurie smirked evilly, "Somewhere."

After hearing his sister's reply Eric's face fell and he was jus about kicking himself for falling for the whole thing. But he was still determined to find the item that Jackie had left behind for him.

"Where, Laurie?" he asked

"_Somewhere_." She repeated still smirking.

Eric took in a deep breath and tried his best to sound as much like their father as he could when asking his next question, "Somewhere like…?"

Laurie had to bite her inside of her cheek to keep from bursting out into a fit of giggles as she watched her brother try to act as tough as their father. She quickly settled her self and replied to his question—keeping in mind the way he had replied to her moments ago.

"Somewhere like somewhere."

The same deep breath Eric had taken in seemed to have been loudly exhaled as Eric's frustration with his sister grew.

"Come on Laurie." He said clearly irritated, "Just tell me where it's at."

The blonde locks of hair swished back and forth as Laurie shook her head, "Not until you tell me what it is."

Yeah, this was more like the Laurie he'd grown up with Eric realized and then began to regret ever trying to bring out the old Laurie again. He missed the new Laurie or was she now the old Laurie? Whichever one she was she was still Laurie, his sister and was currently being a few things that were listed in the sibling manual—annoying, mean, and nosy.

He knew there really wasn't really a point in fighting it, especially if he wanted to find his new piece of luggage. He gave another but smaller sigh.

"It's…uh, well um it's…" Eric couldn't exactly bring himself to say it, or even how to say it. This was something between him and Jackie, it had nothing to do with his sister, it was none of her business. Suddenly he figured out the near perfect explanation to give Laurie, "It's something that's none of your business!"

"God Eric, don't get your panties in a bunch." Laurie retorted making it clear that she didn't care for the tone he'd used, "This is just because it's something that Jackie left for you, isn't it?"

Eric stayed silent not wanting to answer his sisters question, but his silence was give her a thousand word reply. A reply that whipped Laurie's taunting smile off her face—she had only been joking and didn't think her words were anywhere near the truth—and replaced it with a curious smirk.

"Oh my God." She said eyes set on her brother who was looking off to the side, "There is something going on between you and The Chatterbox. And it looks to be something serious too, right?"

Right away Eric could feel himself turning back into his twitchy and nervous side but he tried to stay in control of things—especially the things he said—for just a little longer. Still the question Laurie had asked him wasn't exactly what he would call easy.

Was there something going on between him and Jackie? Sure! He wasn't quite sure what to call what their relationship was or turning into but it was definitely something. And the good kind of something. They'd been hanging out a lot more and enjoying each other company while doing so, they'd had a first date already, heck they'd even had more than a handful of very, very good kisses.

Maybe this question wasn't so hard, he thought to himself before smiling and giving his answer, "Yeah."

However as soon as the word was said Eric recognized that maybe that hadn't been the best answer. After all him and Jackie being something and having something going on between the two of them was how he saw things. He had no idea what Jackie thought…he hoped she thought the same way he did. And no matter what she thought was it even a good idea to tell Laurie about him and Jackie and the closeness they now had with each other when it had already caused enough damage between them and their friends?

"I mean no." Eric redid his answer.

But saying 'No' to that question was almost like denying the thoughts of Jackie that had lately been filling his mind…it was like forgetting, erasing all the moments they'd shared over the past week. He could never do that because he didn't want to do that. Yet, 'yes' dint' seem like the most valid answer either.

Eric went back and forth between the two possible answers for what felt like hours before he finally came up with a solution.

"It's…" he paused and made a sudden detour, "It's a piece of clothing!"

Laurie furrowed her brow, "A piece of clothing?"

"Yeah. That's, that's the some thing Jackie left for me." Eric explained, hoping his idea worked and his sister's mind would drift away from her previous question.

A few seconds past as Laurie continued to look confused but she soon started to piece the puzzle pieces together and try to form the main picture, "Oh! You guys are doing the old follow the trail of clothes to the naked lady." She concluded—she obviously had pieced together two parts that didn't fit—and shrugged again, "It's pretty cliché and boring…but not as boring as you so…"

"No!" Eric just about shouted over Laurie, "It's not Jackie's clothing it's mine."

Disgust filled Laurie and it showed in her face, "Yours?"

"Yeah."

"And she's giving it to you?" She questioned, now even more confused than before.

Again Eric nodded, "Yes…"

"You guys are doing it completely wrong." The blonde commented which caused Eric told roll his eyes before shutting them and hoping to keep his growing migraine from getting any bigger.

And the only way he saw that happening was if once again he changed the subject.

"Laurie." He said with a sigh, "Will you just tell me where it's at?"

Laurie frowned, "How the heck should I know where it's at?" she asked and again Eric stared at her with a look of shocked disbelief, "I only said somewhere to annoy you and get you to tell me what it was that Jackie left for you." Her grin grew into proud one, "It worked out great."

"Have I told you lately how lucky I am to have you as my sister?" Eric asked in a more than sarcastic tone.

Deciding that she didn't want to waist her time with a comeback towards her loser brother Laurie sent a cynical smile his way before turning to watch her daughter play on the floor—ignoring her brother. Eric was actually thankful for the disregard from Laurie; it meant that he could start looking for the item himself without being asked anymore of Laurie's pestering questions.

He dropped to his hands and knees and began his search at the nearest piece of furniture, the bed. Eric crawled around the ground near the bed while at the same time looking underneath it but found nothing. Once he'd made a complete trip around the bed frame he popped back on his feet and began to look under the pillows on the bed. He pushed each of them aside and when he again found nothing he didn't bother fixing them again.

Moving onto the side of the bed, Eric began to scan his eyes over the items resting on Jackie's nightstand. There was nothing interesting there either, the same stuff he'd seen before. However just as he was about to move onto the dresser some thing hidden behind both the lamp on the nightstand and the digital alarm clock beside the lamp, caught his eye; it was something that looked to be made of some sort of white material. Holding his breath, Eric carefully reached over and grabbed the article.

"I found it!" he yelled out gleefully while raising up both his arms in victory—one hand remained holding his 'new' piece of clothing, "I found it! Wait no, not it…I found them. Two for one! Two for one, baby!"

Knitting her brows closely together, Laurie turned her head to see what her bother was making a big commotion about. When she saw the clothing in his hands it cleared up nothing.

"They're socks, you loser." She stated with a snarl.

"I know!" Eric replied smile in place as he sat down on the bed and began to remove his shoes so he could change socks. "Sock_s_ not _sock_! Isn't it great?"

Laurie still didn't understand, "Um…okay?" She said in a questioning almost concerned tone, but then switched it to one that sounded more like her, "Geeze you must go hysterical when you get a pair of underwear."

As he heard his sister's words Eric finished putting his new sock on his left foot and couldn't help letting his grin grow even larger. Though Laurie had probably only said the words to tease him some more, she may not have been off by very much. Eric was getting excited for any piece of clothing that Jackie gave back to him no matter what it was and it would be safe to say he would be just as happy if she gave him back his underwear. He may even be a bit happier especially if they were his Spider Man underwear, the underwear they had already planned on including in their third date. Yeah, if Jackie gave Eric back his underwear it was possible that he'd do a few cartwheels around the room.

"So where exactly did we land on the whole something between you and Jackie?" Laurie asked bringing Eric out of his thoughts, "Yes or no?"

Eric lifted up his right leg and rested his ankle on his left thigh before starting to peel off his old, dirty sock, "Somewhere between the two."

"Like what? Maybe?"

"No. Not maybe. It's leaning more towards the 'yes' but not completely there yet…" he started to explain, receiving his socks had apparently changed his attitude abit, at least towards Laurie's questions, "It's…it's complicated and a really long story."

"So?" she asked with a shrug and a smile, "Tell me it. Maybe I can help."

Eric turned his head to look at his sister in surprise, "Seriously?"

Laurie's blue eyes rolled once again at the shocked tone Eric spoke in, "Yeah, seriously. Look we're gonna be helping each other when we're taking care of Mom right?" she paused and saw him nod, "I figured we better start getting use to it."

Frowning just slightly Eric replayed Laurie's words in his head and gradually started to nod his head. It sounded like a pretty good plan and even though Old Laurie was nice to see every so often he liked the new, nice Laurie too.

"Plus you know," Laurie went on her voice sounding a little less sincere, "I'm stuck up here for good while and there's no TV so I won't be able to watch my soaps. But your story sounds dramatic enough to take their place." She ended with a bright, ditzy smile.

"Can't argue with that." Eric muttered mostly to himself before beginning the debate of sharing the story with Laurie in his head.

He let out a small sigh, "Well I guess you're gonna hear it sooner or later." He concluded after a not so long debate and then got ready to share the story from the very beginning, "It pretty much all started when…"

"Wait a minute." Laurie interrupted suddenly while raising up her hand to get Eric to stop talking.

Shutting his mouth Eric frowned at his sister's actions and the indention in his forehead only became deeper as he saw her get up from the bed and walk over to where Lucy was sitting with her toys and next to their suitcase. Laurie un-zippered one of the side pockets that she used to keep snacks for her daughter and pulled out two Ziploc bags that contained what looked like animal crackers.

After giving one to Lucy and making sure she was set, Laurie walked back to the bed and settled herself onto a few pillows before opening the plastic bag.

Eric watched in disbelief but shook his head, erasing any comments he had plans of making about his sister's actions, "Are you comfortable?"

"Eh." Came Laurie's reply, "I usually have popcorn when watching my stories…but this'll do. You can go on now." she instructed with a wave of her hand.

Exhaling once more, Eric again began his story, "Alright well like I was saying, it pretty much all started when Mom got sick this last time and the doctor gave them the news about Mom…Hyde and Jackie were calling everyone up and telling us what was going on and how we should come see her. Hyde called me first and I…I told him I couldn't make it and then we got into a kind of fight then he hung up."

"I really thought that that was that." He added, "Then a few minutes after Hyde called my phone rang again but it was Jackie this time. She told me I needed to come home and then pretty much ordered me to do it and before I knew it I had my bags packed and a plane ticket back here."

"Wow." Laurie cut in with a teasing smile, "Who knew Little Brother was into S&M."

Eric's eyes went wide before his frown reappeared on his forehead and he began to speak though it sounding more like screeching, "What? No! No, no, no_. No!_ That's, that's not what happened…I …" he heaved a sigh, "Can I continue?"

Titling her head Laurie continued with her fun, "Don't you mean _May_ I continue, _Mistress_?"

"I'm continuing!" Eric shouted and Laurie giggled but was ignored as Eric went on, "The first night back here was…awkward. With a capitol…well pretty much every letter."

"I hadn't been home in almost a year. Fez and Kelso were already here but I hadn't kept in touch with either of them…same went with Donna. And Hyde was still pissed at…" He suddenly stopped talking as a animal shaped cookie hit him in the middle of his forehead.

"Okay…ow." He said with his eyes fixated on his sister who had obviously been the one to through the food, "What was that for?"

Laurie frowned angrily, "You said the 'p-word' in front of my daughter." She hissed while gesturing towards the child who seemed to have not heard any of the sibling's conversation.

"Yeah so? You said S&M infront of her!" Eric pointed out.

"She doesn't know what that means." The young mother declared, "For all she knows it's Sugar and Macaroni."

Eric scowled for just a little longer before he face softened and he began to nod, "Well she is yours and Fez's kid…so yeah I believe that."

After hearing that comment Laurie shot a murderous look towards her brother and it scared Eric more than any other angry or threatening expression Laurie had ever sent his way.

He cleared his throat, "So back to the story..."

It took almost a full fifteen minutes for Eric to tell the whole story of what had gone on during the past few days and he'd only talked about the things that had happened with him and Jackie.

He told Laurie about how Jackie had helped him out with Hyde, how she had been there to talk to when no one else really was. He shared the whole story of the hostage luggage and how Jackie had gotten him to stay a few more days. The way Jackie had helped sneak him past Hyde so he could see Kitty and when she talked to him about running out. He talked about how Jackie played a big role in getting him and Hyde to make up and in getting him the second chance to see their mother.

Not all the details were shared but Eric did still tell his sister about the way they had kissed in the kitchen after taking care of Kitty at night. He summed up some of the awkwardness that followed before getting to the climatic part when Hyde and Donna walked in on them sharing a kiss in the kitchen. The same kiss that had made a big mess of things; splitting Randy and Donna up and putting Hyde and Jackie on non-speaking terms.

Eric also told the story of their first date and everything between then and what happened this morning in the kitchen. The dilemma he was having about wanting to go with Jackie grocery shopping but knowing he had to talk to Randy being the last installment.

"Woah." Laurie managed to say once the tale was wrapped up—she was still sitting on the bed but sometime during Eric's monolog Lucy had joined her on the bed and was currently sitting beside her finishing up the last of the cookies, "All of this happened just during this past week?"

Nodding Eric replied, "Yeah."

The disbelief look on Laurie's face didn't fade as she shook her head, "I knew I should have gotten here sooner."

"Yeah," he chuckled, "you missed out on one heck of a show."

"So what are you gonna do now?"

"I don't know." Eric replied honestly with a tired sigh, "I mean I wanna go with Jackie to the grocery store…I really do but I know Donna and she's waiting for Randy to call her and apologize and Randy doesn't seem like the type of guy to give in and crawl back to her on his hands and knees asking for forgiveness."

"Like you did." Laurie reminded

"Yeah." Eric answered but quickly pushed his thought away from the days when he was with Donna and how he was then, "I just feel like me and Jackie kissing the night was what split the two of them up and I think I owe it to them to at least try and fix things between them."

Laurie frowned, "Ok first of all Eric, you don't owe either one of them anything. And if you want my advice…"

"I don't want your advice." Eric said, not in a mean way at all.

"Well I didn't want a brother either but Mom and Dad still brought you home from the hospital." Laurie remarked as she stroked her daughter's hair, "So too bad."

She paused waiting for some sort of objection from her brother but it never came so she continued, "I think you should go talk to Randy. Jackie will understand and besides it's only grocery shopping."

'_But it's grocery shopping with Jackie!'_ Eric thought to himself and was going to say the words out loud until he realized how childish they sounded; so instead decided to share another concern he had, "But what if Jackie thinks that I'm doing this nice gesture for Donna because I still love her and want to get back together with her. I don't want that. Jackie thinking that or getting back together with Donna."

"Eric, she's not gonna think that." Laurie stated.

"How do you know that?"

Laurie scoffed slightly, "Because she's not a dumbass like you." She explained before going on into detail, "Jackie is not going to think that you're getting Donna back together with her fiancé because you want to get back together with Donna. And if you two ever plan on taking this beyond a few kisses and date to the toy store you need to be able to trust each other."

Never having though of it that way, Eric now saw how obscured the idea was. "I guess that's true."

"And who knows," Laurie continued, "maybe you talking to randy could set off a whole chain of events…good events for a change."

"What do you mean?" he asked curiously.

"Well like…you talk to Randy and help his understand Donna a little better and then he'll go talk to her and they make up. Maybe then Donna will feel thankful and come talk to you, that's when you get to have that talk with her that you told Jackie you'd have. And Jackie and the orphan will see you and Donna talking and realized that if you guys can do it so can they. And then they'll talk and everything will be worked out and no more fights or tension."

Eyeing his sister suspiciously Eric spoke up, "Huh…this is new. You've got a plan to actually _keep_ people together…"

Laurie rolled her eyes, "Look Eric, even though when we were in school I was the more popular and the smarter one…"she began to say, ignoring Eric's laugh that came after her last few words, "But you were the lucky one."

"You had this group of friends who stuck with each other through every school year. I got a new group of friends every school year." She shared, "And if you asked me to name five of them, I couldn't. And I guess…I don't know…I've always been a little jealous at how you've always had that same group of friends that you know and that know you so well."

A beaming smile appeared on Eric's face and this made his sister roll her eyes again.

"I said 'a little.'" She reminded with a frown, "Anyways. I don't wanna see you loose those friends. And I don't think you wanna loose them either."

"I don't." Eric agreed becoming serious again and in staying in his serious mode he looked up and over at his sister and niece, "Hey Laurie, why are you…why are you suddenly going all… 'Big Sister' on me?"

The blonde shrugged, "Cuz I'm your Big Sister."

"Yeah, my big sister who I'm about ninety five percent sure was abducted by aliens." Eric stated, "And was either brainwashed or kidnapped and you're really just one of those surrogate decoys."

Laurie snarled but before she could say a word Eric started up again.

"Thanks for the advice though. I really appreciate it."

"Yeah well…just don't waste it." She warned.

Eric smiled a bit, "I won't."

"Good." Laurie responded with a smile and then grabbed one of the pillows from behind her and tossed it at Eric. It hit his head and he immediately scowled and looked over at her, "You said you weren't gonna waste it. Go!"

"Now?" he asked still very much confused.

Instead of receiving a verbal answer he got another pillow thrown in his face this time by a much younger pitcher. He niece who was busy smiling away.

"Um…okay." Eric said cautiously as he slowly stood up from his seat on the bed; he wasn't sure if Laurie really wanted him to go talk with Jackie or just wanted him out of the room. Either way he was making his way towards the room's exit.

Just as Eric became less than a foot away from the door another pillow hit his back and he swung himself around to face the twosome on the bed.

"I'm going! I'm going!" he declared.

"Good." Laurie smiled, "You better get out before I call Daddy and tell him you're in my room."

Eric smiled a reminiscing smile at the deja vu moment his sister had set up, Laurie smiled back in return. And Eric wore that smile all the way to the door and even when he stepped out of the room and into the hallway, that was the same time that he turned back around to deliver one more line.

"See, now I'm eight-five percent sure." He informed with a pointed index finger.

Not two seconds after his remark another pillow came hurdling towards him but he quickly shielded himself by shutting the door closed.

Laurie shook her head, disappointed that she'd missed her shot but wasn't giving up that easily. She was not going to let him walk away with the last jab, especially not when she had found out a few things about him from Jackie the night before. Pulling her daughter onto her lap, Laurie began to speak in her motherly tone that she made just loud enough to be heard in the hallway.

"You know Luc, your Uncle Eric has always been afraid of pillows." She started, "I think it started when I use to hold one over his head while he was sleeping in his crib…"

"I _knew_ it!" Eric exclaimed bursting into the room and pointing an accusing finger at his grinning sister.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__There you go! Chapter 39 of "Two Weeks" Finally!_

_Will Eric really take Laurie's advice? Will Eric return the favor and give Laurie some advice? If Eric talks to Randy will it help put everything back together again? When is Laurie going to tell Fez about Lucy? Will Eric ever get back his Spider Man underwear? And was Laurie really abducted by aliens? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"!_

_Once again hope you guys liked the chapter and that it wasn't too long for you all. Promise Jackie will be back in the next one! :D_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, see you next time, take care, and have a nice day!_


	41. I'm Sure You Will

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone, first off all I want to apologize once again for the long wait. Things in real life got a little well like real life and then I tried working on some other fanfics but they didn't turn on so great….but the point is I'm back now and with a new chapter! That has some Eric and Jackie :D Finally, I know I kept them a way from each other for too long huh?Anywoo couple of notes before we get started. First of all please remember I am not a doctor nor am I in school learning to be one. I am still watching House MD and will finally be able to see the latest season next week when I buy it on DVD (Huddy!). Second, I'm sorry about the slight shortness of the chapter, it's actually not super short but it's between the short ones and the long chapters I've posted before, school's coming up and I've been getting ready for that. Third, thank you so much for all of your very generous and kind reviews. Especially in the previous chapter I am so glad that many of you want me to continue and I have decided that as long as people are still interested, still, reading, reviewing, and enjoying the story the story will continue :) So yay! Really hope you all enjoy this chapter and I thank you some much for the wonderful reviews again *hugs* to each of you. Now you've waited long enough, Enjoy!_

* * *

_Still sitting at the kitchen table, but the plate of cookies and glass of milk long gone, Hyde searched his mind for another question to ask the older woman sitting across from him and the camcorder._

"_What would you…" he began to ask but before the root of the question could be asked, a miniature brunette came bouncing into the kitchen. _

"_Mom. Mom. Mom." Jackie called as she neared her way to the table, causing Kitty to turn in her direction, "I need your help."_

_Behind the camera—though never moving it down or turning it off—Hyde frowned at his ex-girlfriend's actions. How could she have just come in like that, especially since she knew he was still filming._

"_Uh Jackie…hello!" he called out hoping she'd look over at him and see the big camera and then make her exit._

_Jackie did no such thing; she scrunched her brows together in confusion, "Um hi?"_

"_Jackie what are you doing up here? I thought you were working on questions for Red's video." Hyde said not really caring if she was still working on the questions or not, he just wanted her out of the shot and out of the room._

"_Yeeaahh but then it got boring." She explained, "Besides I need Mom's help on something."_

_Kitty opened her mouth to respond but was quickly cut off by her adopted son._

"_Jackie, I'm still working on Mom's video!"_

_The former cheerleader just stared back unconcerned, "So?"_

_Right away Kitty's mothery senses began to tingle as she realized another argument between her adopted children was about to break out. These two were beginning to fight just as much as her biological children. Not wanting to deal with another of the two's quarrels, she decided to stop it before it could begin._

"_Ok, ok. That's enough." She said before either one of them could make another remark. She turned to Hyde, "Steven, I know we're still working on the video but I'm sure it can wait for two minutes, right?"_

"_Right." Hyde muttered, mostly because he didn't want to argue with her._

_Triumphantly Jackie stuck her tongue out in Hyde's direction, but then swiftly pulled it back in her mouth with Kitty turned to look at her—not knowing that Kitty had already seen her actions from the corner of her eye._

"_Just like it will only take you two minutes to ask for my help, right Jackie?"_

"_Right." Jackie replied in the same manner as Hyde._

_Kitty grinned. "Good. Now, what do you need my help with Jackie?"_

_Putting her smile back into place Jackie raised her hands, that had before been down at her sides, revealing the items she held in each of her hands to Kitty. They were two small bottles shaped in almost a cone with pink as the focal color and then black at the top portion._

"_Which color should I paint my nails?" Jackie questioned._

_Hyde groaned in annoyance behind the camera, "You've got to be kidding me…"_

"_Oohh, they're both so pretty. I can see why you're having a hard time deciding." Kitty said to Jackie and then releasing a small giggle while leaning in to look closer at the nail polish bottles; both women obviously ignoring Hyde's grunting. "But I think…I like this one better."_

_Jackie brought the nail polish that Kitty had been pointing at up to her own face, "Yeah I liked this one too. But then I remembered those shoes I bought the other day when we went to the mall and this color would match so much better." She said lifting up the other nail polish._

"_That's true." Kitty agreed, quickly recalling the shoes Jackie was talking about, she nodded her head, "You should go with that color, dear."_

"_Right?" Jackie asked with a grin that Kitty returned._

_Meanwhile the remaining person in the room was no where near giving out any form of a smile. "They're both the same color. They're both pink."_

"_No they're not, Steven." Jackie argued with a firm glare and then lifted the bottles for Hyde and the camera to see, "This is 'Posh Pink' and this is 'Powder Puff Pink.' Huge difference, Steven."_

_Hyde let out a frustrated sigh. They were the same color. He was willing to bet a hundred dollars that if he took off the name stickers from bottles and then asked Jackie to correctly identify them she wouldn't be able to. He opened his mouth as he got ready to put these thoughts into words when Jackie's next actions caught his eye._

"_You're not doing that in here." He stated more than questioned after he saw her take a seat and begin to shake the bottle of 'Posh Pink' nail polish._

_Never looking up and instead starting to twist the top off, Jackie spoke, "Why not?"_

"_That stuff stinks up a room as fast and as bad as Fez does after eating a chillie dog." Hyde declared._

_Jackie scrunched her nose up to show her clear disgust with the words Hyde had said. Then after a few seconds, unscrunched and gave a mischievous smile as she realized it was time for some payback for the way her ex had been acting towards her. Taking the top and brush out of the small bottle, Jackie raised the open nail polish up towards Hyde's nose._

_While holding the camera with one hand, Hyde used his other hand to push Jackie and her nail polish away, "Get that stuff away from me."_

"_Ok, I think the kids watching this video are probably getting very tried of watching the two of you fighting." Kitty said from the sidelines and her words managed to stop the two in the tracks. "Jackie, you finish painting your nails. And Steven, let's go on with the video. Come on now, you were getting ready to ask a question, remember?"_

_Doing as they were told, Jackie lowered her hand and leaned back in her seat and Hyde shifted himself and the camera so that it was back to focusing on the star of the video._

"_Yeah, sorta." Hyde replied, "Don't know if I remember what the question was though since I was interrupted by _someone_."_

_Kitty smiled at the camera while placing her hand on Jackie wrist putting it back down the one or two inches it had risen from the tabletop. "Alright then, why don't you take a few minutes to think back or come up with another question?"_

"_Yeah, alright." was Hyde's answer before he started to search for the question he'd come up with only minutes ago. _

_A few seconds later and Hyde's mind was still drawing a blank. He was trying his hardest to recall the question or at least one word from it…heck even a word relating to a word from it would help but there was no such luck. And now his head was killing him and the stench coming from Jackie's nail polish was helping in no way at all. Finally Hyde decided he should just forget that previous question and come up with another one. Of course that was easier said than done._

"_What's your favorite color?" he asked the first question that came to his mind._

"_Pfft." came the noise from Jackie's lips, "That's your big question? Seriously?"_

_Again Hyde was ready to retort to her words when Kitty stepped in before things got out of control._

"_No, no. I think it's a very interesting question." She said and though it wasn't caught on film Hyde stuck his tongue out in Jackie direction, mocking her actions from earlier, "After all you can tell a lot about a person by just knowing what they're favorite color is. Let's see now…I think my favorite color would have to be…green."_

"_Eww." Jackie instantly responded_

_Hyde sent a frown Jackie's way, "I think what Jackie means is 'Why?'"_

"_No I mean ew." The brunette replied, "But I guess why would be a good question too. I mean no offense Mom, but green nail polish is so tacky."_

_Kitty let out a small laugh before she started to explain her color choice, "Jackie, honey, green is not my favorite color because of the way it looks on my nails." She stated and then turned to the camcorder again, "It's my favorite color because of the things that it reminds me of when I see it. Like nature and spring time with all the bright green leaves and the fresh green grass. Spring has always been one of my favorite seasons." She added with a smile._

"_Green is also the color of a lot of my favorite things." She continued, "This kitchen for one; green is one of the main colors of it. And…oh Scarlet O'Hara's prettiest dresses in 'Gone with the Wind'—my favorite book and movie—are green." Kitty paused and let her smile grow, "But I think one of my bigger reasons for green being my favorite color is because it's the color of Red's eyes."_

"_Aww, that is so cute!" Jackie gushed and then swung her head to look at Hyde, "Steven, I bet with all the years you've know me, including the ones we dated, you still couldn't tell me the color of my eyes." she accused in a huff. _

"_Wait, you have colored eyes?"_

_Jackie glowered at the camera man, "You better sleep with one of your blue eyes open, Steven or you could wake up with 'Powder Puff Pink' nails." _

_0o0o0o _

After a few minutes of some light bantering with his sister, something everyone in the room seemed to be enjoying—it was like old times for Laurie and Eric and Lucy just seemed to find it amusing as she sat on the sidelines of it, Laurie once again told her brother to get out of her and Jackie's room. She had pointed out the group downstairs would wonder where he was and might come look for him. But Eric had a feeling that it was just a cover story and his sister was really giving him a push out of the room to stop him from stalling and go talk to Jackie about the whole Randy deal.

Unfortunately, Eric hadn't realized the hidden message in his sister's words right away; otherwise he would have returned the favor. And by the time he'd figured it out he had already stepped off the last step of the staircase and figured it wouldn't be worth it to travel all the way back up the stairs and try to get convince his sister to do some of her own talking with a certain foreigner—especially since she had inherited their father's gene for stubbornness. So instead he settled for adding the idea to the growing 'To Do List' he had his head.

Making his way through the living room, staying behind the couch that was still made up as the bed Donna had slept in last night, Eric soon found himself in front of the kitchen's swinging door. And instead of simply pushing the door and walking in a carefree manner as he'd done too many times to count when he was younger, he froze.

There was no doubt in his mind that behind that door was Jackie; just sitting or standing, waiting for him. And that thought gave him several mixed feelings.

He could almost feel his heart do a happy little flip and couldn't help the tinge of smile crawl onto his lips when he thought of the bright and welcoming smile Jackie would flash his way the second he walked in. Then at the same time he felt nervous and most of all guilty when he realized that after only a few seconds of talking to her, canceling their date, he would be the one to make that same smile go away.

Still Eric knew this had to be done, he had to tell her, and the sooner the better. At least that's what he was telling himself.

Hoping to gather some form of confidence Eric took in a deep breath as he slowly began to push open the swinging door. And suddenly, to his own surprise, the scene that greeted him into the kitchen was the same scene that had waved him off when he'd left to have breakfast with his family.

Jackie and Brooke were still sitting at the kitchen table talking and Kelso remained fast asleep and drooling up an ocean on the kitchen table. Sure a few things had changed, like the fact that one of the girls' purses was now on the table and both women seemed much closer to Kelso's sleeping form than Eric remembered. But then again, it really didn't matter. He was just relieved to see that Brooke and Kelso were still in the room, it could buy him a little more time even if it was just a few seconds; he just about let out a very audible sigh of relief at the sight.

"Hello ladies." he said as took the first few steps into the kitchen, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." The two women said simultaneously in a speedy manner and mischievous tone from their seats next to Eric's sleeping friend.

The small giggles that they'd each let out only seconds after their answer made Eric curious and as he waked over to the coffee maker he eyed the pair with a probing raised eyebrow. But before he could ask another question or even come up with one in his head the younger of the twosome popped out of her seat and was standing infront of him with a notepad in hand a smile on her face.

The same smile that Eric had been thinking about when he was outside in the living room seconds before; along with just about any free minute he got to himself that he did spend concentrating on his family, that is. His own smile was quick to appear from the sight of hers alone.

Jackie gave his arm a quick swat with the notebook, "Guess what's written on this notepad." She instructed with a smile as she pulled the pad closer to her chest.

"Um…" Eric pretended to ponder, even though he knew it had to be something relating to the grocery list they had been making out before he'd gone upstairs, "An equation that proves E does not equal mc2?"

"No." came Jackie's reply along with another hit, though her smile remained in its place, "It's forty five items."

Eric's smile fell, "Forty five items?"

"Yeah. Grocery items. Remember?"

"Yeah, yeah. I remember." He assured with a nod.

It was the truth. He did remember and he knew exactly what she was talking about right from the start but the number she'd given him was what had caught him off guard. It sounded so high. That was almost as many states the U.S. had. And they still didn't exactly have the okay from his mother to be cooking in her kitchen. Of course she had given it to Laurie but even then both his father and Hyde, Hyde especially, didn't seem at all thrilled with the idea. Why were they going to buy so much stuff when they might not even be able to use any of it? Plus it seemed like a really high number!

"It's just…" Eric continued and then repeated the number again, "Forty five?"

Jackie nodded, "Yup. Annnd that's after taking off…like ten of the dairy items you gave me earlier. I even came up with twenty of them myself!" she shared happily but Eric remained lost in his thoughts and really didn't seem to notice.

He only managed to get out one word, "Wow."

"Yeah, I was pretty surprised I knew that many grocery items too." Jackie admitted with a shoulder shrug.

"No it's not that." Eric said while shaking his head, "It's well…it's…_forty five items_?"

Now getting annoyed with the repeated question Jackie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, "Yes, Eric for the forty fifth time _forty five_." She answered her tone sounding slightly aggravated but then she knitted her brows together as she looked at him, "Are you thinking this is a good number or bad number?"

"I…I don't know." He honestly said, "I mean in Seattle when I go grocery shopping I don't think I've ever come up with a number like that. I've probably only gotten maybe half of that."

"Well that's because you were just buying for yourself, Eric." Brooke spoke up from her seat by her husband, "We're feeding around ten people. Full house equals full kitchen."

Eric gave a small and almost sad smile as he nodded his head. She had a point, which was where the nod came from while the sad smile was brought on for a different reason. Brooke's words had reminded him of similar his mother would say about having a full house. _A full house is a house full of love._

That statement was usually followed by his father's take on the thought of having a full house. _'A full house is a house full of dumbasses.'_

"And besides you probably never came up with forty five items for yourself because half of your grocery list probably consisted of frozen dinners, beer, and maybe a few bags of chips." Jackie said teasingly, bringing Eric out of his thought once again.

"Hold on a minute there." Eric said raising up his open palms and then putting a puzzled frown on his face, "What do you mean _half_? That _is_ my whole grocery list."

Once Eric's playful grin broke out from behind the puzzled expression both girl released a few good laughs.

After a few laugh filled seconds passed Eric cleared his throat and began again, "But all kidding aside, you're right Brooke. Forty five is a pretty good number."

"Of course it's a good number." Jackie agreed as she place the pad on the counter and took a few steps closer to Eric, "A bigger number means more stuff to buy which means more things to look for, more time to look for them. More time there, out of the house, _alone_." She reminded while wrapping her arms around Eric's brawny right one.

Eric grinned at the physical touch and close contact but when he played Jackie's words over again in his head his guilt stepped in and shrunk his smirk.

"Um, Jackie…" he started to say but was cut off by a third party.

"At our grocery store the aisle second to the last is always the emptiest." Brooke informed before she took a sip from the McDonald's coffee cup. This caused the standing couple to eye her inquisitively and it didn't take long for the young mother to feel eyes upon her; she looked up and began to explain, "It's just something I happen to take notice of when I'm at the grocery store. And actually shopping for groceries." She added with appointed glare and a raised index finger.

Letting go of Eric arm and walking towards Brooke, Jackie still didn't look very convinced, "Come on Brooke, you and Michael have _never_ made a little escape to the second to last aisle?"

Jackie had known Michael Kelso for almost her whole life and she'd date him for a good chunk of that, she knew Michael Kelso. And the Michael Kelso she knew never had any objections to doing anything in public; he'd do anything, anywhere, anytime and back then with anyone. Besides this couple had conceived their daughter in a bathroom stall at a Molly Hatchet concert! Them not having a PG rated getaway at the grocery store was pretty unbelievable.

Brooke shifted her eyes up towards the tiny brunette, "Jackie, you dated Michael for a few years, would you take him to a grocery store period?"

"True." Jackie was quick to answer finally seeing the librarian's point as she dropped into the open seat next to her.

A few feet away Eric remained in his spot next to the coffee maker. He figured making some wouldn't hurt, it would probably come in handy for Hyde and his father too—who knew how much sleep, if any, they'd gotten the night before. And it would also save them and anyone else who wanted a cup later in the day, from drinking the cup of mud Jackie kept insisting was coffee.

As Eric was making the coffee half of him was listening to the conversation and the other half was busy thinking of a good way to approach Jackie with the news about the change of the day's plans.

"Although when we first moved to Chicago he did go grocery shopping with me and Betsy a couple of times." Brooke informed as she smiled thinking back to just a few years when she and her little family would go to the market together. "But then there was one time when Michael brought Fez along…"

"Oh no." Eric said knowing the rest of the story was not going to end well.

Jackie knew the same thing and she let out her own, "Uh-o."

"Exactly." Brooke said with a nod and then went on with the full story, "They decided to have a race inside the store. Down the aisles and with the shopping carts. But not just with them and not pushing them either; sitting in them and 'rowing' themselves with a broom." She painted the image that had the other two trying to stifle their laughs, "So now they're not allowed back in there anymore."

Since he now had the coffee on and going, Eric took a few steps away from the percolator and over to the table and joined in on story sharing.

"You know they did something like that over here back when we were teenagers." Eric shared, "Except the one over here was a bit more…advanced if you will. It was just like the race they had at your grocery store only this time they had added in the 'challenge' of who could get the most items into the carts _without_ getting out of the carts and using their 'oars' to knock the things into the baskets." He paused over Brooke's giggles, "Yeah, they're not allowed in our grocery store either."

Laughing at the memory Jackie nodded along, "But that didn't stop them from having a second round in the parking lot."

The trio continued to laugh but no longer tried to keep the volume of their snickering down to any level. The noise of the chuckles caused the great grocery cart racer in the room to pull the arm—that was already hiding his face—closer to him as he grumbled something about wanting to ride the carousel. And this of course made the others laugh even more.

When the laughter started to fade off Brooke decided to change the subject to a more serious one.

"Eric, Hyde came down here awhile ago for your mom's medicine." She said slowly leading up to the question, making sure she worded it right, "Did she get sick again?"

"Yeah, yeah she did." Eric confirmed with a nod and a weak tone of voice.

Jackie placed her hand on his arm, "Was it worse?"

She asked her question hoping that her voice didn't let on to how worried she was really feeling at the moment. She hoped his answer was no. It was bad enough seeing Kitty get as sick as she did already but Jackie knew it would get worse and would never get better. The doctors and Angela had already explained it before. Kitty would only keep getting worse and worse until finally her body became too weak and the disease finally claimed its victory.

"I don't know." He answered; it was an honest answer. He didn't know if this time had been worse than the others because he had left almost as soon as it had started.

"Well was it like the times she had gotten sick with you before?" Jackie asked, wanting an answer, "Or worse? Better?"

"I don't know, Jackie. I left…" Eric was about to tell her of how he'd left his parents' room and followed Laurie and Lucy into the other room when he remembered Brooke was still in the room. Brooke still didn't know Laurie was here and after having that talk with his sister upstairs he wasn't about to do something that would mess up the new trusting and mature relationship he was starting to form with her, "I left."

Jackie didn't look like she believed him and she eyed him suspiciously, "No you didn't."

"Yes, I did."

Looking at each other Brooke and Jackie exchanged glances before turning back to Eric. Brooke face seemed more worried and concerned while Jackie still seemed to be unconvinced.

"Eric, come on. We're done joking around." Jackie said as she looked into Eric's green eyes, "You didn't really leave your mom's room while she was in pain, right?"

"No, I did leave." Eric repeated, telling the truth but leaving out an important detail, "I was there when Mom first started feeling sick but before it got really bad I left the room."

The kitchen suddenly fell into an uncomfortable silence. Luckily after a few silent and tense feeling seconds passed the silence was broken by two voices coming from down in the basement.

"I win!"

"No you didn't! You cheated!"

"Did not!"

"Did to!"

"Did not!"

"Did to!"

"Mommy!" Betsy shouted, "Uncle Fez keeps saying I'm cheating!"

"Because you are!" Fez was heard arguing back, "Cheater, cheater pumpkin eater!"

"Well I'm rubber and you're glue, whatever you say to me bounce off me and sticks to you!" Betsy shot back.

"That doesn't even make sense!" Fez declared loudly, "If it was true then I would be a cheater and would have won just like you did, _cheater!_"

Normally Brooke would have sighed at the argument taking place but this time she welcomed it, only because it was getting her out of the awkward moment. And hopefully with her gone Eric would open up a little more to Jackie about why he'd left his mother's room.

With a quick and quiet 'excuse me' Brooke stood up from her chair and practically ran down to the basement.

"Okay, she's gone. Now tell me what really happened." Jackie said the second Brooke disappeared to the basement.

"Jackie, that is what happened. I did leave the room…I just left out a few details." Eric explained but by the look on Jackie's face he could see that she wanted to hear more details, the details he'd left out. "I was in there when mom first started feeling sick and I even helped her out a little with the morphine button again. But then she started getting pretty bad and Hyde suggested that I o check on Laurie. Mom had told her and Lucy to leave as soon as she started feeling sick but Laurie still seemed pretty freaked out."

Nodding along as she listened to Eric's story Jackie wore her smile on her lips and it confused Eric some.

"You're smiling." He stated the obvious, "Why are you smiling?"

"Because of you." Jackie shared, still grinning, "I knew you wouldn't leave your mom's room if there wasn't a good reason."

At this statement Eric too started to smile. That's why she kept insisting that he didn't leave, she knew he wouldn't. If he had told any one else that he had left his parents room they probably would have believed him, he wouldn't be surprised if Brooke did, and assumed the worse. Their response would have been something along the lines of 'You did?' or 'You seriously left your parents room while your mom was sick?' He could almost hear Donna's voice in that last one. And when he told them of his actions they probably would have let go of his hand that they had been holding, but Jackie hadn't. She believed in him, she had faith in him.

As a silent thank you Eric held onto Jackie's small hand just a little tighter which made Jackie's grin grow even more.

"So how is Laurie doing?" Jackie questioned.

"She's fine now. We talked a little and…"he drifted off abit to let his smile grow into a large playful grin, "And I am happy to say that I have a sister now!"

Jackie giggled at Eric's enthusiasm, "Eric, you've always had a sister."

"Yes but," Eric said and lifted a pointed index finger, "This sister is not a whore, is actually nice, and Satan's spawn!"

For a while Jackie continued to laugh until a thought entered her mind and her laughter came to a stop, her smile even shrinking a little as she turned to look at the young man sitting next to her.

"Satan's spawn? I thought you said I was the devil…does that make Laurie my daughter?" she asked with confusion and some disgust.

Eric shook his head back and forth, "No, no because I corrected myself last night and said you had now turned into an angel, remember?"

"Oh yeah." She replied her smile springing back onto her face.

"Only thing is that halo isn't enough an sometimes those horns of yours pop up." Eric teased as he reached over and pretended to pat down the imaginary horns on Jackie's head.

Giggling at Eric's actions more than his words Jackie swatted his arms away from her hair and Eric found himself joining in her laughter.

Finally moving his hands back to himself Eric remembered something else he wanted to talk to Jackie about, "Oh and while I was visiting my sister…" he stopped and grinned, "That really has a nice tune to it. I got my present from the Clothing Fairy."

"Really?" Jackie asked, holding back the urge to snicker at Eric's 'Clothing Fairy' name "And what did you get this time?"

"I got, not one sock but a pair of socks!"

Jackie's eyes widened, "Oh shoot I forgot to take out the other sock."

"You mean you didn't mean to give me a pair of socks?" Eric asked with a frown, he was feeling a tad bit hurt.

"No, I was only gonna give you one this time and then the other next time." She confessed while kicking herself for not following her plan with the socks. "You have to give one back."

Eric stared at Jackie's open palm and then down and his feet that were covered by a new pair of socks, "But, but they're both so nice and soft and clean. I want a clean pair of socks, Jackie"

"And you a have a clean pair next time when you get the second sock."

"But the Clothing Fairy isn't a taker backer." Eric protested in a way that almost reminded Jackie of a small child when they were told they needed to give back a toy.

"Like hell she's not, giving me that sock." She argued before she got ready to lunge for him and take off the sock himself.

Seeing Jackie ready to pounce Eric thought quick on his clean sock covered feet and came up with an idea that could actually keep Jackie from taking away one of his socks and in the end could work out for the both of them.

"Wait, wait, wait." He said with his hands up midway in the air, as a barrier between the two, "If you take back one of my socks then I wouldn't get to thank you."

Jackie scowled, "Thank you? Eric…"

But before another word could be said Eric leaned over and covered her soft pink lips with his own. At first Jackie was taken aback a little by the sudden kiss but it didn't take long for her to get into the moment and even move her hand up to cup the side of his face pulling him closer to her and adding more passion to the lip lock.

More than a few seconds had passed by the time the two breathlessly pulled away.

"Maybe the Clothing Fairy should start leaving you two items from now on." Jackie commented, still looking abit light headed.

Eric grinned, "Works for me."

"So um really how's Mom doing?" Jackie asked, remembering a topic from before that she hadn't exactly gotten her answer to.

"I don't know." Eric repeated, "Like I said I was there at first but then went with Laurie. On my way down here I stopped and listened at their door but didn't hear anything." He explained, "I didn't go in though because I didn't know if maybe Mom was sleeping and I didn't wanna wake her up or anything."

Jackie nodded, "Well we can probably go up there together to check on her in a little while, maybe even before we leave to the grocery store."

Eric grinning face and good mood faded at the statement. Jackie still thought they were going grocery shopping. She had every right to after all he still hadn't told her the about anything about the whole Randy deal. They'd talked about nearly everything else except that. Which meant it was time to talk about it now, it couldn't be put off any longer Eric realized with a slight sigh.

"Um yeah, about that Jackie…" he stared to say already starting to loose his courage, "Could we talk about that for a little bit?"

"Sure."

Taking a deep breath Eric looked down at his hand, the hand Jackie had been holding onto earlier and only let go when she started swatting him away from her head.

"I can't go with you." He said but then realized that may not have been the most effective thing to say, it may not have gotten the right point across, "I mean I can go with you to go see Mom upstairs but not anywhere else. Well actually I can go with you anywhere else as long as it's not at one thirty or an hour, maybe two hours after that. But any other time or place I can with you. I can even go with you…you know if you would want to go with me…come to think of it is that expression even used any more I mean…"

"Eric, Eric!" Jackie interrupted before she became even more confused, "You're rambling. Just get to the point."

The teacher took in another deep breath, "I have to cancel our grocery shopping date."

"What? Why?" Jackie asked, not sounding very angry or upset until a sudden thought crossed her mind, "What did Steven say?"

"No, no, no. Hyde didn't say anything." Eric was quick to reply, he didn't need to make things worse between those two, "It was…well really…I think should start from…"

"The beginning?" Jackie suggested getting a little impatient.

Eric nodded, "Yeah, okay. Remember earlier when we were all down here in the kitchen and the phone rang?"

Thinking back Jackie could recall the phone ringing an hour or two ago when everyone was eating breakfast and she and Brooke were making the grocery list out. She could even remember Eric going to answer the phone but couldn't remember if he ever said who had been on the other line.

"Yeah…"

"Well that was Randy calling…"

Jackie sat up straighter in her seat, "Randy? Donna's Randy?"

"Yeah. He's still not sure if he'd keeping the 'Donna's' part but yeah that Randy." Eric informed with a nod, "Randy…wait what's his last name?"

"Pearson?" Jackie asked more then stated.

Eric frowned, "I thought it was Peterson."

Jackie waved her hand, "It's something with a 'P' who cares. What did he say?"

"Well…" he started up again only to be interrupted once more.

"Wait, why didn't you call Donna so she could talk to him?" Jackie was quick to ask.

"I'm getting to that." came Eric's reply before continuing, "Randy didn't wanna talk to Donna because Donna didn't want to talk to him."

Feeling the need to defend her friend, Jackie started to argue, "Of course she does. She just can't…"

"And why can't she?" Eric asked, even though he knew Jackie wouldn't know the correct answer.

"Because she doesn't have a phone number to call him at."

Eric nodded a short nod and pointed his finger in the air, "See that would be a very good excuse if Donna really didn't have his phone number."

A gasp escaped Jackie's mouth as her eyes grew big at the new gossip she was hearing, "No!"

"Yup. She's just waiting for him to call her."

Shaking her head Jackie still wore a surprised expression on her face, "And they say I'm stubborn."

"You are stubborn." Eric reassured which earned him a sideways look from the brunette; he then cleared his throat and went on, "Anyway after he explained all that to me we talked a little more and I realized that I could help this guy. I mean I was with Donna for more than five years and I've known her pretty much our whole lives. I know how she acts and what she'll think of things, I could help Randy maybe even do something was rarely able to do and get Donna to meet on some common ground."

"I told Randy about this and offered to give him some advice and stuff later on in the day but the only time he could make it was at one thirty." He added, "Same time as our grocery date."

The grocery date was the last thing on Jackie's mind at the moment, "Eric…"

"And I'm not doing this because I feel like I have to do this, Jackie. I don't feel like I owe him or Donna anything. I'm doing this because I want to." Eric elaborated some more, remembering their talk from before when they had talked about him talking to Randy, "I want to help Randy out, I can see he loves her and she loves him. I want them to be happy. I want Donna to be happy."

"Then who knows," he said recalling his sister's words, "Maybe me talking to Randy will set off a chain of events that will make the Forman House be at peace again…well as much as peace as The Forman House can be."

Jackie's smile was now back on her face after hearing Eric's previous argument, "Eric, I think that's a really sweet idea." She said truthfully, "And you know what I love most about it?"

"That a handsome man like me came up with it?" he asked smugly which warned him a giggle from Jackie.

"Okay, after that." She said and paused waiting for him to say something but Eric stayed mute and so she continued, "The fact that you want to do this. Because you want to see your ex-girlfriend happy. Not a lot of guys would be so mature and only want to see their exes miserable and alone." She added almost bitterly as she thought of her own ex-boyfriend with the curly hair and constantly shaded eyes.

Eric smiled at what he was assuming was a complement but still took notice of the change in Jackie's tone of voice when he figured she was talking about Hyde.

"And Eric," she said softly, "even though I don't wanna rain on your parade I don't want you to get your hopes up too high. You can't fix everything."

"I know." Eric nodded.

He did know this. His mother's cancer was the perfect example of this. The doctors had tried and tried time and time again but some things you just can't fix no matter how much you want to or try to.

Eric looked back up at Jackie, "Sorry it means I have to cancel our Piggly Wiggly date."

"It's okay, really. I'll get Brooke to go with me." She reassured with a grin, "Besides I think it's for the better. I mean the two of us grocery shopping? Even with a list we would have come back with half the wrong items and the other half expired or rotten."

Releasing a chuckle Eric had to agree, "Yeah."

"But!" Jackie swiftly added, and then jabbed her finger into Eric toned chest playfully, "This just means you're going to have to step up your game for our real second date."

Eric grinned, "I'm already planning it out in my head."

"Really?"

"Yup." He nodded, "And it's gonna be ten times bigger than a trip to the regular Piggly Wiggly."

"Really? Like what?"

With his smile still in place Eric stretched out his arm and proceeded to wrap it around Jackie's shoulders, "I'm thinking, a trip to…The Super Piggly Wiggly Plus!"

After hitting the arm that Eric had lifted in the air when he said the destination of their next date, Jackie couldn't help but laugh out loud at the thought; soon Eric had joined in too. And even though it was only the two of them their laughs became louder and louder and started to wake the sleeping body at the kitchen table.

"I call the ostrich!" Kelso randomly shouted out loud as he sat straight up in his chair with his hand raised in the air.

Immediately his friends burst out in a laughter that was even louder than before. Kelso's outburst was random and he was the only one who would be able to know what it was about which made it funnier for his friends. And added to the hilarity was the sight of the now wide awake Kelso sitting up so excited and eager to do something with the ostrich while overly done make up covered his man pretty face. One half looking nice and neat and the other half seemed from his drool.

The sight remind Eric of a time when they'd put make up on a snoozing Hyde and that memory created even more out loud laughs.

Kelso frowned at Eric and Jackie with confusion, "What are you guys laughing at?"

"Nothing." Jackie lied while biting her lip.

Still not sure if he should believe Jackie, Kelso turned to Eric and Eric began to have an even harder time at holding back the laughs now that his friend was staring right at him. He made his hands into fist and tried to keep a straight face and a steady voice.

"It's nothing man," he tired to assure, "You just…you…you look good Kelso. Really…good."

"Oh." Kelso said before one of his large dopey Kelso grins appeared on his face, "Thanks man. Already knew that, but it's always nice to hear. I'm gonna go watch some cartoons in the basement."

With that said Kelso patted Eric on the shoulder once before making his exit to the lower level of the house. As soon as Kelso was out of sight Jackie and Eric's laughter started up all over again. Not being able to form words as their laughs continued Eric pointed at Jackie and she only nodded to confirm his silent question between chuckles.

0o0o0o

Upstairs in the Forman bedroom all was quiet again. After Kitty had taken the medicine Hyde brought up for her and pressed the morphine button Eric had handed her, the pain and continued for several more minutes seeming to get stronger as the seconds went on. It tore both Hyde and Red up that they couldn't do anything except sit with her and try to give her some form of comfort. Finally the pain died down enough to where Kitty could fall asleep.

Since then the two men in the room had picked up and washed off whatever was need to be and could be done only a few feet away from Kitty's bedside—just incase she woke up and started calling for them again. After that was done they both resigned to the seats they had been previously been sitting in, just sitting silently beside each other. Both of them wanting to be there for the sleeping ill woman even if she didn't know they were in the room with her.

It was a good few minutes later when Red told Hyde to get out of the room and take a break for awhile and since Red, next to Kitty, was the only person who could get him to leave Kitty's side Hyde gave a mere nod and then did as he was told leaving the room and heading to the basement with out saying a word.

Now it was just Red and Kitty in the room. Kitty was still lying on the bed, her eyes closed, and in her deep slumber; while Red sat in his chair feeling tired himself but not giving in to sleep that was trying to take over. He'd pushed his seat closer to the side of the bed, once Hyde was out of the room, and gently grasped his wife's hand, holding it while he watched her sleep.

Even in her sleep Kitty was now starting to look tired and worn out and most of all sick. But in Red's eyes she remained that same radiant, beautiful, lively and giggly woman he had married over twenty five years ago.

Suddenly but slowly Kitty opened her eyes and instantly caught the sight of her husband.

"Hey." He greeted in a soft voice.

Kitty gave a weak smile, "Hi."

The whispering voice she used tugged at Red's heart but he continued, "How you feeling?"

"Tired." She replied in a tone that backed it up as she shifted just slightly in her bed.

Red nodded as he rubbed his thumb over her knuckles, "Why don't you go back to sleep? Get some more rest."

"No." Kitty said shaking her head and trying to sit herself up, "The kids…and the pictures, Red. We didn't get to finish looking at them."

"I know, but they understand. You got sick. You can finish looking at them later, you need to rest now." Red argued keeping his voice firm but not rough as he helped Kitty lay back down.

Kitty could feel the ears in her eyes, "Red this is the third time…the third time I've look through that album…and I still haven't been able to finish it…because of the stupid cancer. Please let me finish looking at the album. I feel better now…"

"Kitty," Red began to say already feeling the pain of having to deny her of something she wanted so much, "you can't right now. The medicine your on is making you more tired and drossy. Even if you did start looking at the album you'd fall asleep just a few pages in."

A feeble laugh escaped Kitty's lips and Red wrinkled his brows closer together.

"What?"

"It's cute. Seeing you play the role of Nurse Forman for a change." She explained with a smile.

He rolled his eyes as an attempt to hide his mile, "Just don't expect me to war your old uniform." He grumbled which caused Kitty to give another small laugh.

A small laugh that broke Red's heart. It was still Kitty's laugh sure, and you could even hear traces of her full and louder one but it wasn't the same unique girlish giggle that would always make him smile.

Red looked back at his wife with a serious expression on his face, "So you're gonna rest now right?"

"I guess…I guess a little rest wouldn't hurt." Kitty said in a weak voice, she could already feel herself slipping off to sleep again, "But I'm going to finish looking at that photo album…with my babies…one way or another, Red Forman."

"I'm sure you will, Kitty." Red agreed smiling at the determination in her voice. It was that determination and her strength that had always made him believe that Kitty would pull through and beat the cancer…even now he still had trouble telling himself that she wasn't going to pull through this time and there would be no beating the caner. There was always some part of him that believed and hoped she would still be okay, "I'm sure you will."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__There you go! Chapter 40 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Btw just a quick little note I forgot to add, if any of you have any suggestion or ideas for the types of questions or things for Hyde and Kitty to talk about in the videos, please feel free to share and I'll b sure to give you accredit and shout out if/when I use you idea._

_How will Eric and Randy's meeting go? What will Donna do when she finds out? How will Brooke and Jackie's day at the grocery store go? Will Laurie ever tell Fez about Lucy? Will Kitty be able to finish looking at the photo album with her family? And what was Kelso going to do with that ostrich? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"!_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	42. Just Really Wanted to Kiss You Again

_**Disclaimer: **I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note:** Hello everyone! A very long long long time no see huh? AT least for this story. I wanted to start off by saying that I am so so so very very sorry for the exteremly long wait. I just got so busy with school and then writing other stories but this one was never forgotten. Just was going through some other stuff to that didn't make writing for this story very pleasant. I wanted to write happier things you know but now I am very much ready to get this story back on track! I've already got the next chapters planned out and though yes I did just start classes up again (yes I know big Red flag there) I will be making time to work on this story even if it means me drinking even more cups of coffee to keep me going! (really don't mind this of course, I love my coffee) Okay I don't wanna keep you all waiting any longer than I already have, I truly do feel terrible about that. But I hope you all are still reading and are as excited for these new chapters as I am. Want to also thank all of you all who hve read and reviewed and added to your alerts and favorites. It means so very much. Even bigger thanks to those of you who have stayed with this story since I first started posting it…two years ago! Holy cow! I this year will be better for updates :D Anyoo thank you once again and I really hope this chapter will make you all happy, next one will be up soon. As always remember I still am not a doctor. Still watching House MD but mostly reruns (I miss Cuddy!). Thank you thank you for all of your support. I am so so very very sorry. I hope you all can forgive me and are still reading and looking forward to more. Without further ado, Enjoy!_

* * *

"_Are you even trying to think of a question or are you just pretending to be trying?" Jackie asked in an aggravated tone of voice while looking at her ex-boyfriend with a look that matched her tone._

"_Yes, I'm trying." Hyde argued from behind the camera, "Just give me a second."_

_Jackie nodded, "Okay…One. Alright there's your _one_ second and you still don't have a question which means it's my turn!"_

_A frown, showing how upset and confused he was feeling as he heard the petite brunette ramble on in front of him, appeared on Hyde's forehead. She was talking at an even faster pace than usual he could barely make out what she was saying and when he finally did figure out what it was she was saying he had no idea how she'd been able to jump to that conclusion. _

_He opened his mouth to interject but before he could get a word in, Jackie asked Kitty her question._

"_What's your favorite store to shop at, Mom?"_

"_What kind of question is that?" Hyde asked in a louder voice that grabbed the attention of both the women he was filming, causing them to turn their heads and look his way._

_Jackie looked straight into the camera, "A good question."_

"_Seriously?" he scoffed in response, "You think _that's_ a good question?"_

"_Well compared to your latest questions…you know the one that you've taken five minutes to think of and _still_ haven't come up with and your previous one of 'What's your favorite color?' I think it's a great question."_

"_At least with the color question we learned some stuff about Mom, what are we gonna learn through this question?" Hyde asked after making a very important point._

_The way Jackie grinned and straightened herself up in her seat told Hyde that she'd already thought about detail, "We're going to learn what store is Mom's favorite store to shop at. And then the kids who are watching this in the future will know too, so when they go into whatever store Mom says they'll know that that store was their Grandma Kitty's favorite place to shop at."_

_Hyde just stared back at Jackie. He really didn't have the strength to argue against her at that moment. And when he thought about it, this question was better than the kindergarten ones he had been thinking of moments ago—questions like what's your favorite animal?—though then again, not a whole lot better._

"_Fine." He muttered._

"_Yay!" Jackie exclaimed happily before getting back into interviewer mode—swinging her head from Hyde and the camera to Kitty and repeating her question, "So Mom, what's your favorite store to shop at?"_

_Kitty looked up from the magazine she had grabbed and started skimming through during the time of Hyde and Jackie's squabble, "Oh are we still doing my video? I thought we had switched to doing a collection video of Steven versus Jackie arguments."_

_Guilty expressions wasted no time in appearing on Jackie and Steven's faces. They did feel bad. They had been fighting a lot lately, on and off camera. Sometimes it was over bigger things other times it was little stuff like the toilet seat being left up. Either way, listening to their arguments was the last thing Kitty needed to be doing._

_Shaking her head lightly, Kitty went on, "I'm sorry. I just…I wish you two wouldn't fight so much. Though I guess…you fighting, even if it is over the tiniest of things, is better than having you not talk to each other at all." She smiled, "What was the question again?"_

"_What's your favorite store to shop at?" the question was repeated for third time._

"_Oohh." Kitty said and then pressed her lips together, "That's a hard one."_

"_Really?" Hyde asked in disbelief ignoring the triumph smile Jackie was giving._

_Their surrogate mother nodded her head, "And I'm a girl so I've already got the genetic code to love shopping." She released a small giggle, "To choose a favorite store…especially when there are so many different kinds of shopping…"_

_Hearing that last bit gave Hyde an idea, "So then what's your favorite type of shopping?"_

"_Hey!" Jackie shouted when she heard her question being reworded and changed almost completely._

"_Well let's see." Kitty said as she started to think, "I've always enjoyed going grocery shopping. But it's better if you go with someone and to _never_ go on an empty stomach."_

_Hyde smirked as he recorded Kitty laughing but noticed that as her laughter died down her smile remained in place and she seemed to have a far off look on her face._

"_Mom?" he called out, after exchanging looks with Jackie, "What are you thinking about?"_

"_I was thinking back to when Red and I first moved into this house and I had gone grocery shopping by myself." explained Kitty, her grin untouched, "Which normally wasn't a problem but at that time I was six months pregnant with Laurie and was at the stage during the pregnancy where your cravings get even weirder than before. I came home with two bags full of sour cream, cream cheese, chocolate chips, and pickles and nothing else." She giggled again, "And ever since that day Red has never had me go grocery shopping alone."_

_The room filled with laughter at the story behind why it was the couple usually did their grocery shopping together—Hyde was a bit surprised by it. Not so much by the story but with the fact that they had learned some more things about Kitty through Jackie's question. Well Jackie's question that had been tweaked around by him._

"_But that's not your favorite type of shopping to do, right?" Jackie questioned after a few seconds, "What about shopping for clothes?"_

_Kitty smiled "Oh shopping for clothes is always fun. Trying on all the different things and there are so many mirrors in the dressing rooms, it makes you feel like a model." She joked and then let out another one of her famous laughs, "And shopping for clothes can be good for you too, and not just because it makes you feel like a model. Sometimes you find that very pretty but _very expensive_ dress that looks just perfect on you, only you can't afford it get right then and there, so you leave the store but don't forget about the dress. Instead it becomes of kind of motivation and you start working harder and saving up some more until finally you have enough to buy the dress. Then when you do go back to buy it, knowing how much work you put into getting it and finally being able to own it… it's a wonderful feeling that should make you feel good about yourself."_

_Tilting her head slightly, Jackie voiced her thought, "Yeah, but couldn't you get that same wonderful feeling if you just bought the dress without doing a lot of work or any saving and just used a credit card or paid it off in payments?"_

"_I...I guess you could do that too." Kitty said though the uncertainty in her voice told Hyde how she wasn't completely on board with Jackie's logic; still she continued, "Gift shopping is another good one. It's a little harder than the rest because you're shopping for other people but it's so much fun going out to look for gifts that show how much you love and appreciate the person you're shopping for." _

"_Don't forget shoe shopping." Jackie piped up._

"_Oh, of course shoe shopping." The older woman nodded and then looked into the camera once more, "Girls, no matter what the men in your life tell you, you can never have too many shoes."_

_While Jackie firmly nodded her head beside her, Kitty tired to think of a response that would wrap up this question._

"_Then there's the type of shopping that you do with other people, it could be a friend, family member, a husband or wife, the point is your not alone when you're shopping for whatever your shopping for. You have someone there with you and you're talking and laughing and doing a little gossiping maybe you even get a quick lunch together…you're just having a good time. That's my favorite type of shopping."_

"_And then right after that it's shoe shopping." She added with a smile._

0o0o0o

"So will you go with me?" Jackie asked the woman sitting next to her at the round kitchen table. She had just spent the past ten minutes explaining to her as much as she could without giving away all the details, about how she and Eric had to change their plans of going grocery shopping and how she was now searching for a new shopping partner.

"Um yeah, sure." Brooke agreed with a nod, thinking it would be nice to get out of the house and actually go to a store where she wouldn't have to be constantly watching all three of her children to make sure the didn't knock anything over, break anything, or get into any other kind of trouble. Still as nice as it sounded, one thought remained her head, "But Jackie…it's just grocery shopping, couldn't you go by yourself?"

"Yeah, but I'd probably come back with all the wrong stuff. It would just be safer if you came too." Jackie admitted freely, "Plus there's this guy that works there that creeps me out. Everyone calls him The Jolly Green Giant."

Brooke had to hold in a laugh, "The Jolly Green Giant? Like the guy that's on the cans of corn? Is he in charge of stacking those cans or something?"

"No." the petite brunette shook her head and then began to explain, "He's just this guy who wears one of those green aprons and he has this really scary smile. He's also really, really tall. I mean he makes Donna look normal sized!" she just about shouted, "And I'm tiny. He could squish me!"

"Okay, okay." Brooke said between laughs, "I'll go and protect you."

A grin quickly appeared on Jackie's face, "Thanks. Hey, maybe after we're done shopping we can stop for lunch somewhere. We can eat there, get a break from everything, maybe do some gossiping and then we'll bring back some food for everyone else over here."

"Sure. That sounds great." The young mother smiled, "What time do you wanna leave at?"

Wrinkling her forehead ever so lightly, Jackie tried to figure out what would be the best time to leave at, "I don't know….in about an hour, and hour and half?"

"Good." Brooke said as she stood up from her seat, "By that time they're showing the real cartoons and not the educational ones. Michael and Fez won't even notice that we'll be gone."

Together the two women shared a laugh—both knew just how true the statement was. As they were giggling Eric entered the kitchen from the basement; their laughter puzzled him and looked back and forth between the two of them trying to figure out what it was they found funny. However after swinging his head back and forth a multiple number of times, he still had no clue.

"What are you guys laughing at?" he decided to just come out and ask.

Brooke and Jackie brought an end to their laughter but continued to smile as they turned to see Eric standing by the old brown refrigerator.

"Nothing." Brooke tried to assure with her hand raised up slightly.

But Eric was convinced. If it was nothing then why were they still smiling? Sure they were girls and girls tended to smile more than boys…most girls anways….but had Brooke tried to reassure him that it was nothing…why hadn't Jackie? Did Brooke feel guilty about laughing at whatever it was they were laughing at? But what could you laugh at but also feel guilty about? It had to be something embarrassing…something she didn't know before…

Suddenly a realization dawned on Eric and with large eyes he turned to Jackie.

"Did you tell her about my Spiderman underwear?" he questioned, trying his hardest not to let his voice go up into it's high pitched tone—but didn't succeed very well.

The burst of laughter that erupted into the room—particularly the laugh coming from the librarian—made Eric realize he had been wrong.

His face feel into a blank expression as he gave a stammered response of "I…I guess not."

This time Brooke really did feel guilty about laughing—at least part of her did, the other part still found it simply too funny to not laugh at. She tired her best to stifle her laughter but couldn't hold it in as well as she would have liked to. Though she soon figured out a solution; she could contain her giggles just as long as she didn't look at Eric.

"Jackie," she said looking straight at the young woman, "I'm gonna go tell Michael our plans and then go ahead and start getting ready."

Eric saw Jackie nod her head 'Okay' and then watched as Brooke turned around—looking down at the floor as if to avoid looking him in the eye—and hurried over to the basement door, her lips pressed tightly together to seal in her laughter. Her lips proved to be a good zipper until she was deep into the basement and the sound of her laughter floated up the stairs. Eric was about to make a comment on it when another question entered his mind.

"When are you guys leaving to the groceries?" he questioned curiously

"In about an hour or an hour and a half." Jackie repeated the answer she'd given to Brooke moments ago.

A frown formed on Eric's forehead, "And Brooke's getting ready _now_? You're just going grocery shopping."

"Well you may not remember this," Jackie started to say in an informative tone, "but it actually takes more than a few minutes to get ready when you have more than one other shirt and only two pairs of jeans."

"And a pair socks plus a toothbrush." Eric happily pointed out with a grin as he took the seat next to Jackie.

Jackie couldn't help her own growing smile as Eric sat himself closer to her. She liked how he wasn't afraid to move closer to her. If he wanted to be near her, he wasted no time in moving himself. With Steven she was the one who usually made the move to be closer to him—sitting on his lap, cuddling against him on the cot—and then of course he'd follow with moving closer to her or bringing her closer to him. And with Michael it was almost the same thing only with him the only time he moved himself closer to her was because he wanted to do 'it.'

She continued to smile, "Right. And besides we're not just going grocery shopping. We're also gonna stop for lunch afterwards."

"What? You didn't say anything about going to lunch when I was going with you." He pointed out, sounding a bit hurt but mostly shocked.

"I didn't think about it when you were going with me." Jackie truthfully answered before shrugging her shoulders, "Besides, going to get something to eat after shopping together is something girls do. It's in the handbook." She finished with a smile.

Hearing this made Eric smirk and release a dreamy sigh, "Ah, to be a girl."

"Yeah." Jackie nodded still smiling—though this smile having just a hint of evil in it, "Especially when it's that time of the month when you start bleeding from your…"

"Okay! Okay!" Eric shouted throwing his hands up in the air, wanting Jackie stop immediately, "I get it. I get it. No joy in womanhood."

When he saw Jackie give a big, satisfied smile an idea he hadn't thought of before turned on the light bulb in his head.

"Hey I just realized if we went to the store early…like if we left in the next ten, fifteen minutes…we could spend that time together. We'd do the grocery shopping and get some lunch and I'd probably still be able to make it with Randy." Eric shared his idea, sounding excited and hopeful.

"Nah."

Eric's eyes widened as her heard Jackie's reply before they returned to normal size when he furrowed his brows together, showing a very large exaggeration of the hurt her was feeling, "I see…I've been replaced. Okay. I get it." He said in a high pitched voice that sounded like he was about to start to cry—fake cry that was, "Just…just promise me one thing. Promise me that the two of you won't make any trips to the second to last aisle. That's our aisle."

"Aw." Jackie replied, playing along and using voice filled with fake disappointment; throwing in a pout and a tilt of her head to make it look good, "That's where me and Brooke planned on spending most of our time."

At first the green eyes staring and Jackie showed surprise, as did the rest of Eric's face. However, the more he thought about Jackie and Brooke together in the second to last aisle—the most secluded aisle of the grocery store—the more he became okay with it. A grin of approval even made it's way to his mouth.

The grin obviously disgusted Jackie and she wasted no time in letting him know, "Ew! Stop being a prev like Fez."

"What? I'm not a prev and I'm not like Fez!" he declared in an outrage, "I am actually hurt that you would say something like that…in fact all I have to say to you now is…Good day."

Jackie let out a tiny laugh; she knew where this was going, "But Eric…"

And in true Fez fashion, Eric lifted up his open palm and turned his head to the side in order to avoid eye contact—he even spoke in a thick phony accent, "I say good day!"

"You're sure in a good mood." Jackie commented after their laughter had died down, "Why?

Eric smirked as he replied, "You."

That simple one worded explanation that Eric gave made Jackie smile one of her brightest smiles, however before she could say anything the kitchen door swung open and the two turned their heads to see their visitor. It had been a distressed looking Hyde who'd entered the kitchen but he seemed to be lost in his own world of thoughts. If Eric hadn't called out to him he wouldn't have even realized Eric and Jackie were in the room.

"Hey Hyde, man." Eric greeted, right away deciding to find out how his mother was doing, "How Mom doing?"

The question about Kitty appeared to really snap Hyde out of whatever trance he was in; he nodded his head slightly before replying, "She's uh…she's doing okay, man. Gave her the medicine and it helped some…she's asleep right now and Red's there with her."

Nodding his own head, Eric started to wonder if maybe he should go up there and sit with his dad. Jackie, meanwhile, looked over at Hyde, who was still standing in the kitchen and had made no attempt to leave, and smiled. She may have still been upset with him and had been doing her best to ignore him or give him the shortest possible response when he asked her a question, but any time she saw an opportunity to tease him a little she was going to take it—whether she was mad at him or not.

"Did you come down here to get dolled up for Angie's visit?" she asked teasingly.

"No. Red kicked me out." Hyde answered, making sure his voice was as serious as possible; glancing over at the two seated at the table Hyde noticed the expression on his adopted brother's face and so he added, "Don't go up there, man."

Moving his head upwards and then turning it to look over at Hyde, Eric saw the stern expression on his face. And when he put together that look and the tone of voce that Hyde had just spoke in, Eric realized those words weren't an order, they were a warning. A warning Hyde probably made to help protect him from Red. Not knowing what else to say, Eric gave another nod.

Jackie frowned a confused frown at the interaction between the two men but decided to ignore it and change the topic of conversation. It was familiar subject and one she was sure would have the same answer, still she hoped—especially today—that it would be even a tad bit different.

"So Steven," she began, trying to keep her voice light and not filled with the anger she still had towards him, "What are you doing today?"

Hyde scowled a deep scowl, she couldn't be serious could she? Knowing Jackie though, she probably was, so he decided to give a more than cynical reply,

"Actually I have a long list of things to do today." He said, his words already dripping with sarcasm, "I'm gonna stop by _Grooves_ for a couple of hours see if I can sell any records. Probably catch a movie for lunch and swing by the arcade after that. Finish all of that off with a trip to the ice cream shop and then come back here and I don't know…take care of our sick mother." Hyde finished the last line in a loud tone of voice that seemed to ask 'What the hell do you think I'm doing today?'

Obviously not impressed by the sarcasm, Jackie wrinkled her nose with repulsion, "Well I hope you're planning on squeezing in a shower somewhere in there."

"Why?" he questioned after using as much strength as he could to not roll his eyes.

"Because you stink." Jackie replied, her voice and face still showing her disgust.

Hyde was not amused. "You know what I mean, Jackie. Why are you asking what I'm doing today? You know what I'm doing today, the same thing I've been doing these past few days."

"I was just wondering, Steven." She answered, her anger slowly starting to seep through, "And stop making it sound like you're the only one who's been taking care of Mom these past few days. We all have."

Sensing an argument about to erupt, Eric jumped in hoping to he could save the conversation. "We were both wondering Hyde." He started to explain, letting out a slight chuckle, ignoring the frown Jackie was looking at him with, "Yeah, we were sitting here and talking about the things we were doing today and then we started wondering what everyone else was gonna do…and well you were the first of everyone else that we saw so we asked you…first."

Despite the fact that it was a bit of a jumbled explanation, Hyde believed it. Unfortunately that wasn't as good of a thing as one would expect it to be.

"You two were talking about what you're doing today?" Hyde repeated the words in question form then turned to his ex-girlfriend, "What are _you_ doing today, Jackie?"

Shrugging her shoulders as she stood up from her seat, Jackie gave her reply, "Nothing special. Just going grocery shopping with Brooke in a little bit."

"Grocery shopping?" he asked

Jackie nodded, "Yeah, you know the kind of shopping people do when they don't have any food in their house. I don't know if you've noticed this Steven but all we have in the fridge is a few bottles of beer."

"So? I don't see a problem with that." came Hyde's response, though when he saw the annoyed look Jackie was sending him he went back to being serious, "You'll be back for when Angie's here, right?"

"Maybe." Jackie answered back.

Of course she was going to try her best to be done shopping and be back home by the time that Angela made her visit to check up on Kitty. She was just giving him a hard time…well at least that was part of reason behind her response. The other part was because she didn't understand why Steven made sure just about everyone would be here when Angela came.

Having everyone in the room would just make things crowded and frustrating. Besides it wasn't like if she missed it, she couldn't find out what had happened or what new information she needed to know was—he or Red or even Eric could catch her up on everything. And these hospice visits weren't the most pleasant things in the world. It wasn't Angie; she has always been a very nice woman who Jackie got along with, it was her visits that bothered Jackie. Every time Angie came to check on Kitty it was reminder of the current situation, a reminder that Kitty was sick, a reminder that the woman who had been like a mother to her was dying.

Really who wanted that?

As she snapped out of her thoughts Jackie turned back around to Hyde and smiled, "But Eric will be here. Right Eric?"

"Yeah, sure." Eric nodded, looking at Jackie who now had her eyes on him, then switching back to his brother, "Well yeah, maybe. I mean I'm gonna try my best to be back in time for that…"

"Wait." Hyde suddenly interjected, "'Back?' Where're you going?"

Eric stared back at Hyde like a deer in headlights, he didn't know which way to go or what to say except, "Um…uh…"

"Out." Jackie said for him, her voice firm as if to avoid further questions.

"Out where?" Hyde asked, his eyes on Eric to make sure the answer came from him this time.

"Um just, just out." Eric answered bring his hands up and the quickly back down, "Just out of the house. And well technically out of the neighborhood too but…"

Hyde shook his head, "Are you going out with Jackie, man?"

"No, no." the school teacher shook his head, though inside it he was wishing he could say 'yes.' He was about to share his plans of talking to Randy but then thought it may not be the best of ideas, "I'm going out with a friend."

"You have friends besides us?" Hyde asked in disbelief.

"Yes, he does. I'm sorry to have to inform you this Steven, but you are not as irreplaceably unique as you think you are." Jackie fired back for Eric, "Besides it's not such a big shock, after all Eric had plenty of other friends when we were in school."

"Like who? The people he'd say 'Hi' to in the hallways? They don't count." Hyde scoffed while crossing his arms over his chest, "Those guys were just classmates and classmates are the same thing as inmates. Just people you make small talk with to try to speed up the time you have left in the unbearable place."

As he nodded his head Eric stood up and walked over to where the two ex-lovers were standing, "Yeah, I'm actually with Hyde on that one, Jackie."

Happy to have his adopted brother back on his side of things Hyde smirked a victorious smirk, though Jackie never saw the smirk since she was busy sending her own sideways look over to Eric. She said nothing else but only because her look said everything she needed it to.

"Hey, just thought you guys should know we're all out of soda's in the deep freeze." A new voice announced as they entered the kitchen.

Jackie knitted her brows closer together as she stared at the tall blonde woman in front of her, "I thought there still a few more bottles left."

"Yeah there were." Donna replied, "And then Kelso and Fez declared it Soda War III. They started shaking all the bottles and then opening them to spray at each other. Most of the time though they just ended up spraying themselves."

While small smiles managed to make their way onto both Hyde and Eric's faces—both probably having a piece of them wishing they had been part of the battle—there was no trace of any kind of grin on Jackie's face. Her mind immediately went to the mess that the basement must be covered with and then the thought of Red going in there and seeing it…She just about sprinted down the basement steps when Donna continued speaking, stopping her in her tracks.

"Brooke already put them to work with picking everything up." She shared.

"Oh okay." Jackie nodded, nearly letting out a large sigh of relief, "Well we'll just add sodas onto the list."

"What list?" Donna asked with a confused frown that only became more confused as she noticed that everyone was standing close together instead of sitting down or at least being scattered some, "What's going on?"

"Nothing." was Jackie's nonchalant answer as she retrieved the shopping list from the counter to write down the new item, "Brooke and I are just going to the store in a while to pick up a few things."

Donna wasn't exactly sure of how to react to that. It wasn't like she enjoyed going shopping with Jackie or shopping at all; but the fact that Jackie was going shopping with Brooke and not even asking Donna before she asked Brooke, bothered the heck out of Donna.

She thought she and Jackie were best friends…but then again maybe they really weren't. This visit was the first time they'd seen each other in months and did a best friend kiss and practically steal your first love, the way Jackie did with Eric? No! You never saw Donna and Kelso playing tonsil hockey…mostly because that would just be sick and completely gross then again that was exactly what seeing Jackie and Eric kiss was too! The two of them getting together was just making a huge mess out of things, one of the main parts of that mess being Randy walking out.

Thinking about it Donna began to regret even coming back here. However almost as soon as she began these thoughts she felt a pang of guilt when the thought of Mrs. Forman up in her bedroom, dying entered her mind. So she didn't completely regret coming back to Point Place but maybe she was going to do some rethinking on who to have as her Maid of Honor…if her wedding was even still on.

"Yeah and Forman's going out with a 'friend.'" Hyde added in, breaking Donna away from her thoughts.

The former redhead frowned, "A friend who's not one of us?"

"That's what they claim." Hyde answered before Eric or Jackie could open their mouths.

"Wait." Donna said cautiously, still unconvinced, "We can see this friend right?"

"Yeah, it's not some movie character either, right?" asked Hyde, his arms still folded over his chest.

"Yes, we can see him Donna and no he's not a movie character, Steven." Jackie answered, resisting the urge to just tell them the friend was Randy; Eric, who had shut his mouth when Jackie started speaking opened it once more but before even a noise could escape, Jackie went on, "And I think you two aren't even all that surprised about Eric having a friend outside of our group, I think you're just jealous. Because Eric has a life and friends away from the basement, away from you. Just like you were jealous when I would go hangout with my cheerleader friends or other people from school that you guys didn't know."

"Jackie," Hyde said, remaining Zen, "That wasn't jealousy you saw then, that was relief."

The brunette sneered, "Call it what you want it what you want Steven, but I know what I saw was jealousy. Just like I'm seeing now."

Hyde looked over his ex-girlfriend with a suspicious eye until it finally dawned on him, "You know." He said, "You know who Forman's going to see and you know where. You _know_. Don't you?"

"Of course she knows." Donna answered for the twosome, in almost a bitter sounding tone, "He tells her everything since now she's his girlfriend."

Once again Eric got ready to speak by opening his mouth but today he was either taking way too long to get his words out or Jackie was just on a roll and couldn't be stopped.

"Yeah, I know." Jackie said casually, "But even if I didn't I wouldn't be interrogating him the way you two are because it's none of my business. Just like it's none of your business and it's none of your business." she stated while pointing at each of them, "It's Eric's business. And I think both of you should stop being so nosy. I mean you're already jealous, and nosy and jealousy don't go well together. Just like Donna and anything that's purple."

Donna rolled her eyes at the comment, "You know what? I just came up to tell you about the soda." She said her voice letting on to how upset she was as she made her exit back to the basement.

Though Jackie was glad that she had gotten Donna to drop the subject and even leave the room she knew she couldn't celebrate yet. She still had one obstacle left but she knew what to do. Crossing her arms over her own chest Jackie stared directly at Hyde waiting for him to back down.

And after a very long staring contest he finally did, dropping his arms at his sides as he did so.

"Look man, I don't care anymore." He said looking over at Eric, "Just…just be back for when Angie's here, alright? For Mom."

Eric nodded, and waited a few seconds to make sure Jackie didn't have to say anything, and added, "Yeah man, I will."

"Good." Hyde gave his own nod, "I'm going to my room to change and try and take a quick nap."

"Don't forget, Angie doesn't like people that smell." Jackie threw over her shoulder as she walked to the kitchen table to sit back down.

Hyde scowled in return and Eric smirked a bit before deciding to give his own piece of advice to the Zen master.

"And hey! Loose the shades." He said pointing his finger at the curly haired man, "It'll bring out the blue in your eyes."

The scowl on Hyde's face deepened, "Forman, man, what the hell are you doing noticing my eyes are blue?"

"Well I…um…" Eric struggled for an answer before suddenly smiling a playful smile, "They're just too dreamy to not notice."

As he turned around to head down to the basement, Hyde shook his head to try and hide the faint smile that had cracked onto his lips. The attempt wasn't very successful as Eric knew his adopted brother well enough to figure out he was really smiling—he'd even caught a quick glimpse of it. The fact that he had made Hyde smile even in tiniest of smiles made Eric's own grin grow in inches as he sat down next to Jackie at the kitchen table.

"Hey um thanks for defending me…for like the millionth time. You know I was actually gonna try and step in but seeing you standing up for me and getting mad at Hyde and Donna…was pretty hot." Eric confessed and Jackie let out a small question which made Eric do the same before pointing his index finger and speaking again, "Quick thing though. You didn't correct Donna when she called you my girlfriend…does that…I mean…is…are you my girlfriend?"

"I don't know." Jackie replied in a shy tone, Eric was almost sure he'd never heard her speak in, "Do you think I'm your girlfriend?"

Eric kept his eyes on hers, "I don't know. Am I your boyfriend?"

"I don't know. Am I your girlfriend?" she asked, the playful teasing tone Eric was used to hearing now back in use.

"I don't know. But…Do you think…" he gulped, gathering his courage, "maybe later on you would want to be my girlfriend? And in turn want me to be your boyfriend?"

Jackie's eyes were bright with excitement, "I would."

"Me too." Eric breathed.

0o0o0o

Hours later Jackie found herself alone in the kitchen as she buttoned up her coat, getting ready to go out in the snow, when a voice from behind called out to her.

"Hey, are you leaving already?" they asked.

A grin formed on her lips as she recognized the voice and turned around to find a pair of green eyes staring at her, "Yeah, we figured we better go now in case there were a lot of people at the store. What about you?"

"Nah." Eric replied with shake of his head as he took a few steps deeper into the kitchen and closer to Jackie, " I'll probably take off in an hour. But I was in the basement when Brooke came in to talk to Fez and Kelso about the rules they needed to follow while she was gone, I'm _guessing _none of that could have been direct at me so I thought I'd go up and check on Mom and see if Red needed anything.

Nodding Jackie smiled at his words. It was amazing how he was wanting more and more to help his parents out during this trying time, especially since only a week or so ago Hyde couldn't even get him to come back to Wisconsin. So much had happened over these past few days it was really shocking that it had only been days and not months. There were returns of loved ones (and then Laurie). Some relationships had been patched up, some were put on the rocks, and a new romantic one had even formed—that last one was probably her favorite thing that had happened over this course of time.

As she thought over the various moments she and Eric had shared together since the day he arrived back home her grin grew but then another—less happy—thought entered her mind and concern displayed on her face as she quickly had her eyes meet with Eric's.

"Where's Steven?"

Eric smirked at the thought of what his friend was doing now, "He's crashed out in his room. I don't know what you were complaining about with my snoring, Hyde's snoring sounds like motorboat. I could hear it through the door and everything! And you were with the guy for over two years."

"Steven only snores when he's really tired unlike you who lets out the freight train during a cat nap." She teased with a smile that stretched at the 'wounded' look Eric gave her, "How long has he been out?"

"I don't know, forty five minutes maybe." Eric replied with a shrug.

Jackie moved her head up and down again; even though she and Hyde weren't on the best of terms she knew he needed to get some rest, she also knew he got mad when he rested too much. Back when Kitty had gotten really sick that first time he would mad at her for letting him sleep in when he could have been helping Kitty out.

She moved her purse onto her shoulder as she said, "You better wake him up in about fifteen minutes."

"Yeah, okay."

"But be careful!" she suddenly warned, pointing her index finger at him, "He's a hitter."

Despite the fact that he knew Hyde would have been sleeping if he had actually struck Jackie and it would have been a complete accident, he almost instantly became protective, "Has he hit you before?"

"Nope. I'm small and can jump out of the way really fast." She answered casually.

"Throw in white and fluffy and you could say you're a bunny." He added in a playful manner.

Her instincts told her to make a remark about his comment or deliver her own shot at him when she swiftly remembered bunnies were cute. So she let the comment slide and decided to change the subject of conversation.

"So is Donna down there too?" she questioned referring to the basement.

"Yeah. But she's only said like two words to me." Eric informed and when he saw the shocked on Jackie's face he continued, "And they weren't even said in the same sentence. I really hope this talk with Randy does some kind of good."

The former cheerleader nodded in agreement, "Me too. I really don't want our cancelled grocery shopping date to be for nothing."

Eric shared a smile with Jackie. The words had been said in a joking manner but he knew there was some truth behind them too, after all he felt the same way.

At that same moment Brooke stepped into the room from the basement with her six year old daughter bouncing behind her—both already bundled up in their winter jackets with matching smiles on their faces and clearly ready to go. The couple, however didn't even notice the Kelso family members until one of them spoke up.

"Hi Eric." Brooke greeted before turning to Jackie, "We're ready when you are."

Jackie smiled at her friend, "I'm ready. Let's go."

Watching the three merrily make their way to the sliding glass door a puzzled frown made its way to the top of Eric's forehead. It increased and deepened until he finally decided to find out if what he was thinking was correct, before they left and he was left wondering al day—or at least until he forgot which would probably end up being a few hours from now.

"Wait I thought it was just the two of you going…Betsy's going too?" he asked directing his question at Jackie but the other two also turned around—all three of them still grinning, though biggest one belonged to the smallest. "Brooke's taking a guest. Can't you take a guest too?"

It tickled Jackie at how much Eric still wanted to go out with her—even if it was just to the grocery store—but she knew what she had to tell him.

"Yes, I can but that guest wouldn't be you." She stated and then went on to explain, "This is a girls outing."

Brooke nodded and playfully added, "That's right, girls only."

"_Yeah_!" Betsy exclaimed happily backing up her mother and godmother.

Eric couldn't help but chuckle at the group, "Okay, okay. You girls go and have fun. Because I've heard that that's all you really want."

Never missing a beat Little Betsy connected her Uncle Eric's words to one of her favorite songs. Putting on a big grin—that was the mirror picture of her father's usual smile—she began to belt out the lyrics.

"_Oh girls just wanna fun! They just wanna, they just wanna! Oh girls, girls just wanna have fun!"_ she sang as she danced out to the driveway.

Smiling at her daughter's actions Brooke gave a quick wave of her hand to Eric before making her own exit, leaving the duo alone once again if only for a few seconds.

"Well I guess I'll see you in a few hours then." Jackie said and Eric nodded his head but instantly stopped when he felt a pair of soft lips on his, "Good luck."

While butterflies continued to flutter around in his stomach, from that quick peck, Eric leaned over and placed his own lips over hers.

"Good luck to you too." He said when he pulled away from small kiss.

Jackie was puzzled, "Why are you wishing me luck? You're the one going to talk to your ex-fiancée's fiancé."

"Yeah but you're taking a six year old, who's part Kelso, to a grocery store. I think _you_ need more luck than I do." He joked before turning serious, "Plus I just really wanted to kiss you again."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **And that would be Chapter 41 of "Two Weeks" (FINALLY) Hope it was worth the wait!_

_How will shopping with Jackie and Brooke and Betsy go? Will Eric be back in time for Angela's visit? When will Laurie come out and tell Fez about their daughter? Will Eric's talk with Randy change anything? If it does will it change for the good? And will there be a Soda War IV while Brooke is out? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, see you next time, take care, and have a nice day! _


	43. Yeah, A Little Bit

_**Disclaimer: **I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **Hello everyone! How are you doing? Hope all is well! I am so so very sorry for this late update. I know some of you may be thinking this is an early update compared to your last one but I still feel bad because I wanted to update this story at the beginning of the week not on the weekend. :( I really am sorry about that, things just kept popping up and it's really my fault well my birthdays fault lol See it was on Tuesday and so I had an excuse to not work on it that day but then every day since then almost right when I was gonna sit down to work on the chapter, or when I had just wrote a couple of lines I had a friend call up and say 'Lets go celebrate you turning old' lol I'll try not to let that happen again well until my next birthday rolls around lol I wanted to say thank you so much to all of you who reviewed the last chapter! It was so great seeing some of you readers back! And you new readers made me just as happy! Hugs and birthday cake for each of you! Don't worry its still good! :D lol Just some quick little notes before I get the chapter started. First off, there is a RK scene in this chapter and I wanted to apologize if you all find Red abit too mushy, but I couldn't resist…I mean his wife is dying he's not made of stone! Either way I hope you all find him still in character. And secondly, I still am not a doctor nor am I training to be. Still watching House MD but I actually missed watching the marathon today to work on this chapter, see don't you all feel loved? :) Thank you all so very much for your superb support it really means so very much! If you have the chance to review this chapter it would mean so much! Please forgive my lateness. Hope you like the chapter! And please, Enjoy!_

* * *

_Kitty smiled at the camera as she gave her reply, "Twenty-four years."_

"_Are you sure?" Hyde asked from behind the recording device; it wasn't that he didn't believe Kitty, he was just hoping that her reply would be longer, more detailed. Give him some more time to think of another question._

_She nodded, "Yes, I'm sure. Red and I moved into this house on Tuesday morning October 8, 1957."_

"_Got the time you moved in too?" Hyde asked jokingly._

"_Steven!" Jackie, who was still in the kitchen with them, scolded followed by a hit to the arm before turning back to Kitty, "Don't listen to him, Mom. I think it's so cute that from the start of your marriage with Red this house has been home for the two of you."_

_Furrowing her brow just slightly Kitty shook her head while looking at the small brunette, "Well no, that's not entirely true. For two reasons." She explained and then faced the video camera once again, figuring it would be a good idea to explain to the future generations watching as well. "Red and I haven't always lived here."_

"_You haven't?" Hyde questioned—not imaging the couple ever living anywhere else but in this house._

"_Nope. When Red and I first got married we lived in an apartment here in Point Place. It was over where…" the elder woman drifted off abit as she tried to recall what was now standing where she and her husbands spent their first years of marriage, "Alright, you know where that pet store is?"_

_The camcorder moved up and down._

"_Well before that was a pet store it was a book store but before it was a book store it was a dress shop. And before it was any of those things it was the apartment building where Red and I lived. Of course it had been torn down years before it turned into any of those other stores." Kitty went on as her adopted children became more and more engrossed with her story, "Oh, that apartment was…well you remember the apartment that Mary Tyler Moore had those first couple of years?"_

_It took Hyde several seconds to picture the set Kitty was speaking of however Jackie, a loyal viewer of the sitcom, quickly understood and eagerly nodded her head._

"_Okay our old apartment was like that. Only smaller."_

_Jackie's eyes widened "No!"_

_Closing her eyes, Kitty gave another nod but then stopped when she realized there was another difference between the two apartments, "Well maybe ours was a just a little bit bigger because we at least had a bedroom. Although the only thing we could fit in there was our bed." She added with a laugh._

_Hyde and Jackie let out their own lighter laughs as Kitty continued on with her story._

"_You know thinking about it, that place was tiny; but back then it had everything we needed. We had a stove and a refrigerator, a table to eat at, a bed to sleep and…relieve our honeymoon in." she giggled one of her girlish giggles, "And we had each other. I didn't even think we realized just how small that apartment was when we were living there. Well except for when our parents would come and point out. Or when Red and I wanted to throw a party there with more than a few friends…"_

_Right away Hyde's mouth opened, he finally had a new question! However the look his surrogate mother was sending him let him know he wouldn't be able to ask it just yet._

"_You can ask that question when we're done with this one."_

_As Hyde nodded in agreement Jackie took the moment to ask her own question—but keeping things on topic._

"_So you guys moved out when you found out you were gonna have Laurie?" she asked curiously._

"_No, not exactly." Kitty replied with a small frown, "We lived in that apartment for about…two and a half years before we realized we needed to get out of there. So we started the house hunting and we saw this house and just fell completely in love with it. Red loved the garage and I loved the kitchen…and it was a two story house, something I had always wanted since I was little. It just makes you feel like you're living in a castle."_

_Though Hyde appeared abit confused by the words Jackie seemed to know exactly what Kitty was talking about._

"_So we signed all the papers and the house was ours. And it was actually a few weeks after we had moved in that we found out I was pregnant with Laurie. Everything worked out right on time."_

"_You said there were two reasons for why what Jackie said was wrong." Hyde pointed out, making sure he was the one to ask the next question, "What's the other reason?"_

_Kitty scowled as she tried to recall her other point and as soon as she did remember it, the scowl vanished from sight, "Oh right, well the second reason is when we first moved in here it was just Red and me, and the rare—although not rare enough—drop by visit of Red's mother and his friend Frank…"_

_This time it was Jackie turn to come up with a new question but before she could interrupt, Kitty shot her the same look she'd given Hyde a few minutes ago._

"_Another question you can ask later." She informed and Jackie closed her mouth listening to the rest of Kitty's explanation. "Anyways, it was mostly just the two of us. And as much as we loved that time alone together, this house didn't really turn into a home until you kids came along."_

_A nostalgic smile made its way onto Kitty's lips as she spoke, "The day we brought Laurie home from the hospital, that was the day this house really began to feel like a home. And every time one of you kids came in here this house became more and more of a home."_

"_Kitty, don't lie to them." a gruff voice commented._

_Hyde moved the camcorder's focus from Kitty over to behind her, where Red stood infront of the open fridge grabbing a beer. He must have snuck into the kitchen in time to hear the last part of Kitty's reply._

"_This house didn't become more like a home each time one of these dumbasses came over. It became more and more like a homeless shelter."_

_With that said Red headed right back into the living room never noticing his wife wave her hand in his direction while shaking her head disapprovingly._

"_You know, he may gripe about all of you kids being over here so much over and over again." Kitty started to explain to the camera, "But if he really didn't want a house full of kids we would have bought a much smaller one."_

_0o0o0o_

It was ten after two as Steven Hyde paced the kitchen floor. He was aware of the time and even more aware of the fact that the people who said they would be here by now were no where to be seen. Not Jackie or Eric or—the one who concerned him most of all—Angela.

She had said she would be here at two but she wasn't. And she was never late; in her profession Hyde guessed one really couldn't be late. Unless maybe your patient was already so ill there was nothing anyone could do anymore, the way Kitty was now. Perhaps that was why she was late. Or maybe it was because she'd seen him walk into the front door the last time she was here and was still laughing…so much that she didn't think she could keep a straight face around him so she'd gotten another nurse to cover for her.

Hyde rubbed his forehead at those thoughts and his own memory of bumping head first into that door he still swore was left open when he had walked Angie out to her car. His hand suddenly froze as another possibility entered his mind.

Maybe she hadn't said two o'clock. Maybe she had said two thirty or three o'clock. That idea seemed to be the most logical one; it was also the one Hyde was hoping was the real reason behind Angela's absence.

Just as the curly haired young man was about to exit the kitchen and go up to his adopted parents room—see if either of them knew what time Angela said she would stopping by—there was a small but rapid knock at the sliding glass door. With a slight furrow depressed on his forehead, Hyde turned around and saw a slouched figure covered from head to toe in winter clothing.

Not being able to tell who the mysterious figure was, thanks to the hood over their head and the scarf wrapped around their neck but also covering their mouth, Hyde curiously made his way to the side door. Then right before his hand grabbed onto the door's handle, he caught two small flashes of green buried under the pieces of heavy material and instantly recognized who it was.

"Angela?" he greeted as he slid open the door, his surprise sounding less and less real as he continued, "What are you doing here? Was this the time you said you would be here at?"

The young nurse, still standing out on the patio, pulled down her scarf to speak, "Actually no. The time I said I'd be here at was ten minutes ago. Sorry about that. I left over here late and the roads are icy, I didn't wanna drive too fast."

"Don't worry about it." Hyde assured, his Zen still in tact.

"I hope you don't mind me using this door." Angela said as she tried to calm her shivering by hastily rubbing her gloved hands over her arms. "Jackie mentioned before I would probably… get in here faster if I came though this door… since none of you all ever use the front door."

Hyde smirked lightly at the words, "Yeah. I told Red once he should just bolt it closed. He almost did too but Mom stopped him." He let out a small chuckle, "Think she was worried he'd go and to it to the other doors that lead into the house."

Angela joined in the laughter for a few seconds until finally she couldn't take it any longer.

"Can I come inside?" she asked almost desperately.

The unshaded blue eyes widened a bit as Hyde realized he still hadn't invited the freezing woman in! What was it that always made him act Eric-y around her?

"Yeah sure, come on in." he said as he stepped back to let Angela step into the house, "Sorry about that."

She shook her head, "It's okay."

Despite her reassurance Hyde continued to feel somewhat guilty and even more like dumbass; so when he saw her begin to unwrap her cream colored scarf from around neck, he made the decision to not have another 'Eric Moment.'

"Here I can take your coat."

Angela smiled, "Thanks." She said before shrugging off her navy tinted coat.

"Man, I didn't even realize it was snowing again." Hyde commented as he took her belongings and noticed the some of small flakes dusted upon them along with the many more wet droplets that had soaked onto the fabric.

"Yeah. It keeps getting colder too. Feels like the temperature's dropping five degrees every hour." Angela shared with Hyde, "And I thought the winters in New York were bad."

Hyde's eyebrows raised up, just a tiny bit, "You've been to New York?"

"I grew up there. In the city." She explained while putting her gloves into her bag.

While a simple nod of his head was all Hyde gave in response, Angela's words had sparked much of an interest inside Hyde. After all, many years ago, Hyde had almost left Point Place for The Big Apple. Which was how things were supposed to, you leave a small town for a big city not the other way around. Besides wanting to know what the city that never sleeps was like Hyde also became quite inquisitive to know why Angela had left New York City for Point Place, Wisconsin. However before he could put a voice to any of the questions forming in his head he noticed Angie continued to try to warm herself up with the rubbing of her palms.

"You want your jacket back? At least until you, you know warm up?" he questioned already offering her back her coat.

"No that's okay. I'm sure I'll warm up right now." Angela politely declined and as Hyde placed the coat back on the orange bar stool she grinned, "How are you Steven?"

Hyde stared back at her. She must have thought it was a simple, small talk question but for Hyde it was an overloaded question. His ex-girlfriend was now the girlfriend of his best friend—the guy he'd always considered a brother. She also seemed to really hate his guts—even more than she ever did. His missing adopted sister had made a return with her own illegitimate daughter whose father was another one of his best friends, but she still hadn't told him and instead was more focused on taking over their mother's kitchen. And to top it all off the woman who he'd considered his mother, long before he moved in with the family, was dying.

He didn't know where to begin or how to put any of that into words so he gave a mere shrug of his shoulders.

"Been better. But I guess I've been worse too." He replied in full Zen, "How about you?"

"I'm good, thanks." Angie smiled a genuine smile that somehow made Hyde feel a smidge bit better about everything, "Where's Mrs. Forman?"

"Uh she's up in her room. She um… she hasn't really been out of there since your last visit." Hyde informed.

"Oh?"

Nodding his head, he scratched the back of his neck, "Yeah. She hasn't really even tried to get out of bed. Except for when she needs to use the bathroom…and…she needing a lot more help with taking those few steps."

"Well that is expected with all the medication she's on. And the last time I was here, we did increase the morphine dosage…" Angela began to say.

"Yeah I know." Hyde interrupted, not wanting to hear a bunch of big medical words or explanations he'd been given time and time again. He understood what was going on with his adopted mother but that didn't mean he hated it any less, "It's just seeing her in that much pain…The bathroom's gotta be only four feet away from the bed but the look on Mom's face makes it feel like we're making her climb up Mount Everest. And I know she's keeping in a lot more of the pain."

Angela nodded, "There are a few things we could do to help her out in that area. We could increase more of her medicines, maybe a wheel chair or walker. It might even be time for a catheter." She went on and Hyde moved his head up and down, though never looking her in the eye, "But I think we should talk about all of this with your mother. Would it be alright if we went up to see her now?"

"Oh yeah." Hyde nodded once more before heading over to the swinging door—being sure to keep an arm outstretched to hold the door open for the young nurse.

Hyde led the way through the living room and up the carpeted stairway. And while Angie followed close behind him she couldn't help but notice how very calm the house seemed to be.

"Things are certainly a lot quieter than they were the last time I was here." She commented with a smile.

"Yeah, it never stays like this for too long though." Hyde replied smirking lightly until he realized the house was really quiet, and knew all the reasons behind the silence, "This time might actually be different though. Jackie's out running some errands, Eric went to visit a friend or something, and everyone else is down in the basement. They'll probably stay down there instead of coming up to Mom's room while you're checking up on her."

"Oh that's good." She said while stepping onto the step second from the top, "I mean having everyone in the room before was a nice idea but I think I work better without an audience."

As he stepped onto the upstairs floor of the house Hyde turned himself around to look at Angie, "Oh yeah…yeah that was actually Jackie's idea. Having everyone in there. But I told her I'd take the blame for it incase you were against the idea."

Angela grinned, "Well that was very sweet of you."

A smug smile made its way onto Hyde's lips when he heard Angie's words and it stayed in place as they walked away from the staircase and over to where the bedrooms were; however the second they reached the second door on the right that smile vanished without a trace. Hyde knew the sight waiting on the other of the door would not be one to smile at.

"Mom?" he called and then rapped lightly on the door waiting for a response he didn't receive, "Mom? Can I come in?"

He predicted hearing Kitty's voice telling him to come in or a muffled grumble from Red, that he could only guess consisted of at least one 'dumbass,' come from the opposite side of the door. But not one sound was heard. A frown mixed with confusion and worry etched onto Hyde's face as he took hold of the doorknob and turned it to the side before pushing open the door.

"Hey Mom? Angela's here. You…" the movement of his arm was brought to a sudden halt and his sentence cut off midway through when he saw the scene inside his adopted parents room.

It was definitely one he had not been expecting.

Kitty was lying on her side of the bed, the same spot she'd been in when he'd left the room hours before, still lost in a deep sleep. That part Hyde had expected to see. What he hadn't expected was the part with his adopted father. Red was lying right behind his wife, on his own side of the bed, holding her back against his chest with his arms wrapped almost protectively around her waist, his large left hand holding onto hers.

Watching the couple sleep so peacefully—something that was rare for both of them nowadays—Hyde immediately felt guilty for having to wake them, but he couldn't let them sleep especially since Angela was here and waiting to check on Kitty.

"I see Mr. Forman's home." a smiling Angela whispered from behind Hyde.

"Yeah." He nodded and cleared his throat before gradually taking a few steps into the room, "Hey Red…Mom? Angela's here. You gotta wake…"

"Shh!"

Baffled by the sudden interruption, Hyde twisted himself around and saw Angela motioning for him to come out of the room with her waving right hand. A puzzled scowl remained on his forehead as Hyde took one more look at the sleeping married couple before walking out of the room and over to Angie. When Hyde reached her though she still said nothing and instead gestured for him to close the door.

With his confusion only growing more and more, Hyde shut the door, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just didn't want you to wake them." She explained.

Hyde still didn't understand. Why wouldn't she want him to wake them up? She had come to check up on Kitty and he was pretty sure she couldn't do that if Kitty was still sleeping. Or with her sleeping husband holding onto her. It took him a minute or two but then an idea, that helped him understand a little better, entered his mind.

"Hey, don't worry. Red's bark is a lot worse than his bite. He'll probably grumble about it for awhile but when he realizes it's you and you're here to see Mom, he'll get over it."

"That's good to know." Angela said, "But that's not why I didn't want you to wake them. They both looked so peaceful and I bet they could both use some more rest. That's why I didn't want you to disturb them."

"Yeah. I didn't think they'd be asleep. I mean I was up here a few hours ago and Mom had just fallen asleep. Don't know if she's been asleep since then but I wouldn't be surprised. She…she's been sleeping a lot more than before." Hyde informed and let out a barely audible sigh, "Even when she's awake you can tell she's fighting off the sleep. Hasn't been winning much lately either."

Angela nodded understandingly, "I'm afraid that's another one of the side effects from the medication. And when you think about it, it's really for the better."

A small scoff escaped Hyde's lips; but he wasn't mad at Angela he was mad at the stupid cancer.

"I know it may not seem that way. You probably feel like her sleeping so much is taking away time you could be spending with her." She continued to speak, "But with her sleeping you don't have to see her in so much pain. Your last memories of her won't be of her suffering."

The blue orbs shifted downwards, "Guess that's sort of true." He mumbled before looking back up and deciding to change the subject, "So do you think you're gonna be able to check Mom today or have to reschedule?"

"Actually this was my last stop for the day, since it's Sunday." Angela began to explain, "I could probably go home and then come back here in an hour or two to check on Mrs. Forman. They should be up by then, right?"

"Yeah, yeah." Hyde nodded though secretly he didn't want her to leave yet and it was at that thought that Hyde decided he was done acting like Eric around Angela and was going to start acting like Hyde, "Mom and Red will probably wake up pretty soon. Think it'd be pretty pointless to have you leave and then come back in a few minutes. Especially with all the snow and you just started warming up. You could stay here, if you want. It's warmer and I could…"he stopped and let out a light laugh as he realized he had nothing to make, "I could warm up some McDonald's coffee. Sorry, that's pretty much all we have right now. Jackie's out doing some shopping now and…"

Angela smiled, "McDonald's coffee is one of my favorite coffees."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." She grinned and nodded, "And I think I will stay here a little bit longer."

Hyde smirked, "Cool."

The young nurse let out a tiny laugh before following Hyde down the same set of stairs they had climbed up minutes ago.

Meanwhile back in the Forman's bedroom, a pair of eyes suddenly flew open and they scanned over the room as if looking for something. A second or two passed before the awake person stopped their search and instead stared over at their sleeping spouse.

"They're gone, Kitty."

"Shh!" Kitty hissed back, staying in position—eyes closed and all—"They're still out in the hallway. They could still come back in here. Go back to pretending to be asleep."

Red let out a groan of annoyance as he called her name, "Kitty…"

"Shh!" she cut off his complaining before it could even begin. Then after waiting several soundless seconds Kitty fluttered her eyes open and gave a small smile, "Okay, they're going down the stairs, we're safe now."

"Are you sure?" Red asked, though didn't seem all too concerned.

As Kitty carefully rolled onto her back, she nodded her head and began her clarification, "I heard the creak of the third step at the tops of the stairs. It's so light though you can't hear it unless you know it's there."

It was obvious Red had never heard any creak by the expression he wore on his face when he looked down at his wife. It was a look that silently asked her 'How the heck did you know that?' and a face she couldn't help but giggle at.

"Oh honey, I've been up in this room for too long." she answered with a faint smile.

He gave a somber nod and though he wasn't exactly in favor of the idea he was about to bring up to Kitty, there was the chance that it would make her happy and her happiness was something he supported and valued. Years and years ago, when he had proposed to her, he'd made a promise to do whatever it took to make her happy and keep her smiling and laughing each and every of their life together. Red was sure there had been more than a handful of days when he had broken that promise in their thirty one years of marriage but these last days with her were not going to be added to that list.

"You wanna go downstairs?" he asked.

Kitty looked up at her husband and could clearly see the worry written in his green eyes. As she saw Red's apprehension she felt two things; her mouth tug upwards into a smile and her heart breaking into tiny pieces. It was sweet seeing how much he was concerned for her but at the same time she hated it. She hated being the one who people were concerned and worried about. She was the mother, she was his wife, she should have been the one worrying and taking care of her family, not the other way around.

And of course she wanted to go down to the living room, to the basement, to her kitchen. She would go even if it was just to visit with everyone for five minutes.

But she couldn't.

"Maybe later." She replied still smiling as if to cover up the little lie—there would be no later. However as she snuggled up closer to Red she looked up at him with a true grin, "Besides I like laying here like this. Don't you?"

Red smirked, "Yeah."

A girlish giggled escaped Kitty's lips as she felt her husband kiss her forehead.

"And it's fun too." She commented.

Confused Red asked, "What is?"

Kitty smiled up at him and as if her answer was obvious replied, "Giving Steven this little push."

"Oh right." Came Red's dry response before a scowl appeared on his face, "Remind me again why I'm helping you give Steven this 'little push' when anytime I tried to push any of our kids you wouldn't let me near them?"

"Because you would have tried to push them right out of our house." Kitty answered and the smug smirk etched onto Red's mouth proved how right she was, "And I'm trying to push Steven into happiness. He really does deserve some. And Angela is such a sweet girl who likes Steven just as much as he likes her. In the end this will all work out for everyone."

"You sure sound confident about all of that." Red stated aloud.

"Well of course I do. Because I am." She declared still smiling as she spoke, "You'll see this plan will work perfectly because it's a Kitty Forman Plan and my plans never fail."

Red held in a laugh as he gave an unconvincing, "Right."

"It's true. Each of the plans I have come up with have always been a success." Kitty argued, though clearly not in the same feisty manner she usually fought back with, "I can't think of one that didn't work out the way I'd planned it to. Can you?"

Just as Red opened his mouth to speak Kitty interjected with a quick side note.

"But remember Red, I'm a dying woman and whatever you say to me could be the last words I ever hear." She said pointing her index finger right at him and wearing a playful smile on her lips.

Staring down at her, Red couldn't believe his ears. Was she really using her cancer, playing the dying woman card _on him_ to win an argument? He had to let out a chuckle. And the smile she was giving him only made the corners of his mouth tug up even higher.

"You're one girl in a million, Kitty." He said shaking his balding head.

Kitty blinked, her lighthearted grin still in place, "And aren't you glad you found me?"

Red shifted himself abit to make sure he was looking her straight in the eyes as he spoke to her, "More than you'll ever know."

0o0o0o

"So you're not mad at Eric for canceling your grocery shopping date?" Brooke curiously asked as she pushed the shopping cart.

It had been almost two hours since she and her daughter and of course Jackie had walked into The Piggly Wiggly and they'd only gotten half the items on their list. It wasn't that they needed to get so many things—although that play a pretty big part—it was more having a hungry six year old with them who was trying to sneak in as much junk food as she could into the cart. There was also the fact that they'd come on a weekend and so many of Point Place's citizens were doing their own shopping before the work week started, making the large grocery store seem smaller than it was.

However, despite the crowds the three girls seemed to be enjoying themselves. They were out of the house, Betsy had gotten a few okays on some of the junk food she's asked for, and Brooke and Jackie were able to do some of the chatting they'd planned to do at lunch—mostly because at the rate they were going they wouldn't have the time to stop and eat at a restaurant today—while they browsed through the aisles.

The current aisle they were in being every child's favorite; the cereal aisle.

"No. I mean it's just grocery shopping." Jackie replied and then grinned, "And besides if he hadn't cancelled then I wouldn't have been able to spend time shopping with you and my precious goddaughter. Right Betsy?"

The former cheerleader then went on to hugging the young Kelso girl close to her.

Little Betsy looked up at her godmother with a bright smile, "Right Aunt Jackie." she nodded and then 'magically' pulled out a box of _Trix_ cereal from out of nowhere, "Can I get these?"

"Sure sweetie." Jackie answered.

As soon as the words were said the cereal box with the white cartoon rabbit drawn on the front was tossed into the basket and Betsy scampered over to the section of the aisle with all the tasty, sugary, prize inside, cereals. Neither Brooke nor Jackie noticed the little girl wander off as the topic of the previous conversation was brought back up.

"You're really not mad _at all_?" Brooke pestered slightly.

"I'm really not mad _at all,_ Brooke." Jackie answered, holding back the urge to roll her eyes; that urge suddenly faded though when she realized that while she wasn't mad about the canceling of their date she wasn't happy about it either…and Brooke was probably the only person she could talk to about this. She heaved out a sigh, "I'm just kind of… disappointed."

Brooke stopped pushing the basket, to make sure her full attention was on what Jackie had to say.

Jackie shook her head, feeling guilty about saying those words, "But at the same time I understand. And I think Eric's doing a really nice thing for Randy and Donna. And Steven too I guess….I guess he's trying to fix things so everything will be better for everyone. His heart's in the right place."

"It sounds like his heart is after yours." The young mother said teasingly.

"To tell you the truth," Jackie said in a sly tone, "it's pretty much his already."

"Really?"

"Yeah…I guess that's another part of why I'm not mad at him for canceling." She shared and Brooke smiled a smile that gave a silent 'aww' "Plus it would be nice if the next date we went to on wasn't to somewhere that has shopping carts."

Confusion crossed Brookes' face, "What do you mean?"

"Well our first date was to the toy store and…" Jackie started to explain before getting interrupted.

"Wait, you mean when you took Betsy to the toy store? That's when you had your first date?" Brooke questioned, "My daughter was there for yours as Eric's first date?"

Jackie nodded, "Yeah, she was our little chaperone. Don't worry we kept things G rated. Right Bets?"

"Uh huh." Betsy nodded while approaching the two ladies, obviously hiding something behind her back, "Mommy?"

Turning her head, Brooke looked at her daughter but was still very curious to find out more about this covert first date, "Yes honey?"

"Can I have some of these?" she asked holding up another cereal box this one being with decorated with a sketched toucan with a very colorful beak.

"That's fine Betsy, just put it in the basket." The little girl's mother said and then went back to talking with Jackie, paying no attention to the second cereal box being added into the cart. "You two…or should I say three…have already had your first date?"

Again Jackie moved her head up and the down, "Yeah but it was just to a toy store at the mall. It was nothing special." She stopped, not being able to contain her smile, "Okay that's a lie. It was pretty special. I mean I didn't think it would be some great, memorable first date—we had just set it up as a first date because we were both out of the house at the same time—but it was really nice."

"And Eric was so sweet. Holding doors open and letting me talk about things I wanted to talk about, he's great with Betsy too. Oh and you know how guys usually get you candy or flowers on a date? Well Eric bought me a doll!" she squeal as she gushed on and on about her 'not so special toy store date' "It's a doll I had wanted ever since I was a little girl and somehow he bought without me knowing. And…What?" she unexpectedly stopped her story and asked the grinning librarian.

"Nothing." She insisted with a shake of her head, "I just can't believe you and Eric would keep all of that a secret. Especially since it sounds like you two had such a good time together."

Looking down at the almost full shopping basket, Jackie shrugged her shoulders, "Yeah well…with everything that's going on with Mom and the drama with Donna and Randy. And Steven's a whole other case. We can't exactly go around flaunting our happiness…and secret romances are pretty sexy and…_secretive_."

"I suppose that's true." Brooke agreed though wasn't ready to drop the subject quite yet, "But you know there are other people in the house that you could at least inform about your happiness."

Jackie let out a slight giggle when she heard Brooke's statement—already knowing what she was hinting at, Brooke really had been spending too much time with Kelso and Fez, they were starting to rub off on her, "Okay Brooke, the next time Eric and I go out on a date I'll give you all the details the next morning."

Brooke returned the smile, "That's all I'm asking."

The two women shared a laugh before starting to move through the aisle once again; though being sure to walk at a slower pace so that Betsy, who was a few feet behind still scanning over the kids cereal, could catch up to them.

"So are there any other secrets you and Eric are hiding?" Brooke asked jokingly though at the same time being a bit curious.

"No Brooke, Eric and I aren't hiding anything else. You now know everything…" her thoughts were suddenly cut off when a box on the shelf caught her eye, "Oh my God! Are those _Cocoa Puffs_? I haven't had these in forever. And it's so weird but ever since we started eating all that take-out breakfast stuff I've had such a craving for a bowl of this stuff. We're taking this."

As another box of cereal was tossed into the basket Brooke smiled at her friend. It was sort of funny seeing her get excited about a box of kids cereal…it's was actually kind of weird and random, that went for the craving itself too. She couldn't remember having such a random craving since she was pregnant with Betsy…and hadn't Jackie and Eric mentioned to Betsy this morning something about her soon having a new friend to play with? Brooke brown hazel eyes became wider and wider as she put more of the pieces together.

"I used to love these when I was little." Jackie shared with Betsy who was now standing beside the cart, "I remember every Saturday morning when I was six or seven I would make a bowl for me and Daddy and…"

"Oh my God!" Brooke abruptly exclaimed

Knitting her brows together Jackie looked over at Brooke, "Is it really that surprising that I can actually make a bowl of cereal?"

Brooke rapidly shook her head still trying to remain calm, "No it's…it's not that. Jackie are you…_enceinte?_"

"Encei-what?" Jackie asked puzzled by the whispered word.

"Are you," the taller woman looked around to make sure no one else would hear, "_pregnant_?"

"What?" the raven haired woman practically screeched out—her eyes matching the size of her friend's.

Betsy watched the exchange between her mother and godmother and saw it as a perfect opportunity to sneak in another box of sugar filled cereal.

"Aunt Jackie," she called, "Look at this cereal, can we buy this one too?"

"Yeah, yeah Betsy." Jackie quickly said overlooking the box of _Frosted Flakes_ being placed in the filling shopping cart and instead focusing on Betsy's mother, "Why would you think I was _pregnant_?" she asked whispering the last word as well, before speaking in her normal—but filled with more shock—tone of voice, "Oh my God am I getting fat?"

Quickly moving her head from left to right Brooke tried to calm Jackie down, "No, no. I just thought…you said you had a craving. And then with you and Eric keeping secrets from everyone else I don't know I thought…"

"That I was fat." Jackie interjected.

"Jackie, you're not fat." Brooke tried to reassure.

The corners of Jackie's mouth twitched, "Well that's always nice hear." Brooke held back a her own smile as Jackie continued, "I'm sorry I got so excited its just…Eric and I haven't done…anything."

"Really?"

"Really. I mean not everyone conceives their daughter on their first date." Jackie shot back teasingly.

Relieved that her daughter was back looking at the cereals packed with sugar and missed the comment, Brooke shook her head, hiding the smile on her face, "I'm sorry too for jumping to conclusions like that. I really…wait a minute. If you're not pregnant then what did you and Eric mean when you two told Betsy about having a new friend to play with?"

'_Uh-o'_ Jackie thought as her mind flashbacked to this morning at breakfast when Betsy had complained about being bored and she and Eric had tried to make her feel better. They had said she could be making a new friend soon and have a new player for _Hungry, Hungry Hippos_ but they weren't talking about a baby—definitely not a baby of theirs—they had been talking about Lucy. And though explaining to Brooke about Lucy may have been easy, though very long, Jackie didn't think that would be the brightest ideas. It looked like she was going to have to take one for the team.

"Um…you know what Brooke…you're you're right!" she smiled, hoping her performance was believable, even though there was a chance of it creating more chaos, "I am pregnant. I'm enceinte….got a bun in the oven. You would make a great Nancy Drew! And I'm thinking if it's a girl 'Katie' and if it's a boy…"

Brooke wasn't fooled, "Jackie, what's going on? What are you and Eric really hiding?"

"Eric and I aren't hiding anything." Jackie replied with a sigh, figuring the truth would all come out eventually and it would be better this way then having to put on some charade, "At least it's not just me and Eric that are hiding this. It's Steven, Red, and Mom too."

"What is it?"

Jackie took in a deep breath, "Last night we had a visit…"

"From the stork?" Brooke asked sarcastically, Jackie was telling the story way too slowly for her. There was a big piece of gossip that Jackie was holding and Brooke wanted to hear it. She remembered how quickly Jackie had reacted to the pregnancy talk and so Brook thought it was worth another try.

"No." Jackie shook her head, "From Laurie."

"Laurie? Laurie Forman? Eric's sister?" Brooke questioned still confused, surely Laurie was not the new friend Eric and Jackie had in mind for Betsy.

"Yeah that Laurie. And she didn't come alone." The younger of the two shared, "She brought her daughter Lucy. Her daughter that none of us knew about."

Brooke's face showed her surprise before a smile crept onto her face, "Mrs. Forman is a grandma? She and Red must be thrilled."

"Well Mom was. Red took a little longer to get used to it but he's warmed up to the idea especially since Laurie brought Lucy to meet Kitty before the worst happens." Jackie informed Brooke of the short version of the events from last night.

"Mommy can I get some _Count Chocula_ cereal?" Betsy asked just as Brooke was about to ask Jackie her own question.

"Sure, honey put whatever you want in the basket." Brooke replied, not realizing what she'd done nor did she catch the look of excitement on Betsy's face before threw the new box in the cart and then ran back to the other cereals; she turned back to Jackie getting back on topic, "I didn't even know Laurie was married."

Jackie went on, "She's not. That's another reason Laurie and Lucy are here. She's planning on telling Lucy's father about her."

"He's here in Point Place?"

"He'd not just in Point Place," Jackie began, "he's in the Forman's house."

A look of puzzlement appeared on Brookes face when she heard Jackie's comment. And as she started to figure out who Jackie was referring to, she suddenly remembered some of the stories she had heard about Laurie Forman—specifically the ones that involved her own husband.

"Um Jackie," Brooke started, clearing her throat trying to conceal the feelings of jealousy and anger that were starting to build up inside her, "Laurie's daughter is younger than Betsy, right?"

A laugh escaped Jackie's lips before she placed a assuring had on Brooke's arm, "Believe me Brooke, Michael is not Lucy's father. If he was, Red would have already killed him."

"Yeah and I would have helped." Brooke stated.

Jackie released another laugh before turning back to a much more serious state, "It's not Michael who's the father, it's Fez."

"Noo!" Brooke said in complete shock—eyes wider than they'd been all day.

"Yes."

Brooke still couldn't believe what she was hearing, "Fez is a father?"

"Yes, now shh!" Jackie warned, moving closer to Brooke to prove a point, "I know you haven't lived in Point Place for awhile but word travels even quicker nowadays."

"Right." Brooke said with another nod, "When is Laurie gonna tell Fez?"

Jackie shrugged, "I don't know. We tried to get her to do it last night but after having to introduce Lucy to the whole family, I think she's afraid of stressing her out. And she's also really worried that Fez is gonna be angry at both her and Lucy."

"That won't happen Fez is a good guy. And even if he does get angry, it won't last that long. Laurie just has to make sure she takes some type of candy bar with her when she breaks the news to him." Brooke put in her two cents that Jackie found herself supporting.

"We told her that too. But she's still really nervous. She and Lucy have been hiding out in my room since they got here."

Brooke slowly shook her head disbelief, "Wow. Fez is a father…I can't believe it."

"I know." Jackie agreed, "And Laurie's the kid's mother. Pretty scary huh?"

"Well I've never actually met Laurie, but from the stories I've heard…Yeah, a little bit." She said with a sad nod.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **And that would be Chapter 42 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked! Please review if you can…it could be like a little belated birthday gift lol_

_Will Kitty ever go back downstairs? How will Hyde and Angela's McDonalds coffee date go? Will this be another successful Kitty Forman Plan? Has there ever been a successful Kitty Forman Plan? Will Brooke be able to keep Laurie's secret? How is Eric's talk with Randy going? And will Betsy be getting all of those cereals she put into the shopping cart? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"!_

_BTW I'm curious which day would you all like me to post new chapters for this story? What day works best for you? I'll take the day with majority vote and try my best to start posting my chapters on that day. Sunday through Saturday! You tell me! In a review in a PM which ever you like! And a special thanks to MomentOfZen who long ago suggested the bit with Brooke thinking Jackie was pregnant. Thank you and i hope your still enjoying the story :D_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, see you next time, take care, and have a nice day!_


	44. Make Him Do It Again!

_**Disclaimer: **I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note:** Hello everyone! No, no this is not an April Fools prank this really is a new chapter of 'Two Weeks' Yay!...Right? Long time no see huh? I am so so terribly sorry about that. I just got busy with school and real life wasn't being so kind to me and then I started working on another story that was supposed to be a oneshot but took on a life of its own lol. But I truly a so very very sorry for taking so long to update. I feel terrible, really and I hope you all can forgive me and are still interested in this story. I know I've already said this before but school is getting ready to wrap up so hopefully THIS time I can get ahead on chapter and have more frequent *crosses fingers on each hand!* U I know you all are probably wanting to go on to the reading but I just wanted to say a few things really fast. First off thank you, thank you to all you readers and reviewers. Especially those who have been here since the beginning and especially those who are here now still reading and wanting more of this story. Thank you! It's you all who make me want to continue this story whenever I feel like giving up. Thank you! *Hug!* Secondly sorry if Randy is OC—I've said this before but I'm not exactly use to writing him plus I don't watch season 8 all that much and when I do I usually fast-forward to the RK bits. And finally please forgive any medical errors I may have, remember as always I am not a doctor nor am I training to be one. Still watching House and am so sad that its ending :( Thank you once more to all of you! You're all so very awesome! Hope you all like the chapter and please review if you can—it would really mean so much and helps push me to work on the next chapter :D Oh and WARNING Tissues….lots and lots of tissues are needed….okay now see, that was an April Fools joke :P Sorry couldn't resist. Please don't be mad and make it cost e a review. No tissues are needed for this chapter but I hope you all will still like it. Thank again for everything! Enjoy!_

* * *

"_So how'd you tell Red that you were gonna have Laurie and Forman?"_

_Kitty frowned slightly at her adopted son's new question, "Well really neither time that I told Red I was pregnant was anything big or extravagant. When I told him about Laurie I just sort of blurted out that I was pregnant. That same day that I got the call from the doctor. I was just so excited I couldn't wait to share it with him and so I did."_

"_And Red wasn't too happy about it, right?" Hyde asked with a smirk, still amused by the fact Red had not been excited when told the news that he and Kitty were going to have Laurie._

_Swinging her head from Kitty then to Hyde, Jackie became more and more confused; and when she looked back at Kitty and saw the warning look on she was sending over to Hyde the brunette's curiosity grew. She had never heard anything about this!_

"_Wait," she interrupted before the other two could speak, "Red wasn't happy when he found out you were pregnant with Laurie?"_

_Hyde's amusement grew as she caught on film his ex-girlfriend's eyes grow wide with surprise, "Sorry Jacks, already went over that earlier in the video."_

"_What no! I wasn't even talking to you, Steven. I was talking to Mom." Jackie shot out and then turned back to the elder woman in the room, "What did Red do?"_

_Looking at Jackie, Kitty was tempted to tell the story all over again but at the same time she understood why it wouldn't be the greatest idea to say it again, it was the probably the same reason Steven didn't want her retelling it—or at least she hoped it was. Retelling the story would just be well retelling and repeating a story she'd already said, something that wouldn't make video all that interesting and would most likely take up space on the tape they were recording this video on._

"_Sorry dear, but Steven's right. You'll just have to watch the video later to find out." Kitty said to Jackie, patting her hand as she did feel a bit bad about not giving her the answer then and there._

_Jackie said nothing and instead simply pouted and crossed her arms over her chest before slumping back against the back of kitchen chair._

_Hyde ignored her actions and instead went back to the questions he had for his mother, "How'd you break the new to Red about Eric?"_

"_Actually when I was pregnant with Eric I didn't tell Red anything." Kitty shared which earned her two puzzled looks from the duo in the room._

"_You hid your pregnancy from Red?" Hyde asked with confusion._

_Jackie was just as lost, "Like they do on TV shows?"_

"_No, no." Kitty said holding back a giggle as she shook her head, "I meant I didn't tell Red that I was pregnant with Eric. He figured it out all on his own."_

"_Really?"_

_Kitty nodded, "That's right. Now I don't exactly know how he did it. Maybe he noticed that I was happier or maybe he saw that pregnancy glow on me whatever it was he saw it. Then he asked me if I was and all I did was confirm it."_

"_And how did he react?" Jackie questioned, "Or was that already shared too?"_

_This time Kitty let out her laugh while she shook her head and then continued with her answer, "Red reacted just about the same way he did when I told him about Laurie. He said 'Oh crap' and then marched out of the house."_

"_So Red wasn't excited for either of them?" Hyde asked a bit disappointedly. _

_Though not so much disappointment in his surrogate father but rather the lack of irony; he had been hoping since he learned about Red not being happy when Kitty told him she was pregnant with Laurie that he would have ironically been over the moon when she had told him they were going to have Eric._

"_It's not that he wasn't excited about having the kids." Kitty began to defend her husband, "It's just…Well, you have to remember when we found out we were going to have Laurie we had just moved into this house. We knew were going to be paying a mortgage now and not rent, and almost all of our bills were going to higher, and then to top all of that off we were going to have a baby."_

_She paused a small pause before going on, "Then when we found out I was pregnant with Eric, Laurie was just about a year old. So we were going to have two babies to take care of." Kitty looked into the camera, "You see while the first thing I felt when I found out I was pregnant both times was excitement and the urge to knit some baby booties, the first thing Red felt was worry. He wanted to make sure he would be able to provide for us."_

"_And that's why his first reactions were his first reactions. Of course it didn't take him that long—minutes with Laurie and an hour or two with Eric—to stop his worrying long enough to just think about the fact that we were expanding our little family and he would come back to me happier than a clam." She explained and then once again let her smile grow as she thought back to the days of her pregnancies, "I remember when I was pregnant with Eric, Red wishing and hoping that we would have another girl. And as I got closer and closer to my due date, he and just about everyone else we knew were so sure it was going to be a girl."_

_Jackie smirked, "Well you guys did end up with Eric, so I guess they were pretty close."_

"_Yeah, I'm guessing Red regrets all that wishing and hoping now." Hyde joked from behind the camera, capturing the warning glare Kitty was casting towards both him and Jackie. _

0o0o0o

Stepping into Point Place's Fasto Burger felt like stepping back into the seventies. Eric was really surprise at how much the restaurant still looked the same way it had when years ago when he had applied for his first job there. Same hard and sticky table tops and chairs, same seventies styled bright orange and yellow uniforms, Eric shuddered at the thought of some of the frozen meet in the back being another thing that was here since the beginning of the seventies.

"Eric!" a voice suddenly shouted out loud, instantly grabbing Eric away from his thoughts.

The school teacher turned his head and soon found the person who had called his name, it was the same person who he was expecting to meet at the fast food stop. Randy. He was sitting towards the back of the eatery but at a table right infront of the big glass window, waving his hand in Eric's direction. Eric returned the wave before hurrying over to the table.

"Randy, hey." He greeted with a friendly smile as he slid into the seat across from where Randy was seated.

Randy gave a quick nod before speaking his thoughts, "Wow, I didn't think you were actually gonna come." Eric opened his mouth but Randy quickly realized his words hadn't been worded in the most correct way, "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I just…I guess I'm still getting use to the idea of an ex-boyfriend trying to help his ex-girlfriend's life better by helping her patch things up with her fiancé."

"Yeah." Eric agreed with a nod, he too could understand where Randy was coming from, "Not many ex-boyfriends would do something like this. There are some but very few…we're a rare species. But we do have our own secret handshake and that's kinda all that matters." He joked weakly.

A quick light laugh was shared between the two young men but after that the table became silent. At first it was a comfortable silence, then a silence that was between comfortable and not so comfortable and then finally into the dreaded awkward silence.

Eric looked down at his hands in his lap, wondering if maybe he should move them up on the table or would that be weird? Was it weird that they weren't on the table? While Eric was busy debating on where the proper placement of his hands was, Randy was staring at his pack of fries as if some sort of icebreaking conversation topics were written on each of them and he was trying to decide which of them to pick. Finally Eric made his decision and felt confident that it was the right one. A smile formed on his lips when he placed his clasped hands on the tabletop, however that smile faded when he realized him now having decided the spot for his hands meant he now had to think of the next thing to say to the man sitting across from him.

"So uh…how are you?" he asked trying to keep his voice from sounding as awkward as he felt.

His eyes remaining on his fries Randy shrugged as he answered, "Been better."

There was another nod from Eric and then another moment of silence. Luckily it didn't last as long as the last one and lucky for Eric this time it had been Randy who'd interrupted.

"How's she's doing?"

'She' was referring to Donna, Eric had no doubt. After all Donna was the one that Randy was with. Donna was the one they had come to talk about. Donna was the one Randy had to be feeling curious, maybe even worried, about. 'She' had to be Donna.

"She um…she misses you, Randy." Eric began to say, "And I've known her pretty much my whole life. I know her as well as I know my own sister…actually probably better than I know my owns sister since you know my sister's the devil so I've always done my best to stay as far away from her as I could." He smirked and the realized he'd gotten off track, "But um anyways. She, she really misses you."

Frowning slightly, Randy stared at Eric, "Um…yeah. I actually meant your mom, Mrs. Forman. How's she doing?"

Eric's face fell and he felt embarrassed and guilty for thinking this guy had only come to talk about Donna.

"Oh yeah, yeah I was talking about her too. She misses you too." Eric fibbed, though he was sure his mother would probably be missing randy if she knew he was gone, "And um she's doing okay. She's taking her medicines and her nurse should actually be coming over to the house pretty soon to check up on her. She's' sleeping a lot more and even though my dad's been the one who been at her bedside sine he got home, we're all still taking the time to go visit with her."

Randy nodded glad to hear that Mrs. Forman was doing okay and that her family was spending as much time as they could with her. He was also glad that he and Eric were having this bit of small talk before jumping straight into the whole Donna situation.

"I'm glad your dad made it back in time. And don't worry too much about the sleeping, that's normal." He started to share the memories of when he had gone through a similar situation years ago, "I remember when my grandma was on her deathbed she slept almost non stop until finally she slipped into a coma and then when she slipped into the coma that was pretty much it. They said it was made things less painful for her but I never got to say goodbye to her and that killed me. I remember for almost a while year I couldn't…" abruptly Randy stopped midway through his story, an apologetic look on his face, "Sorry. You probably don't wanna be hearing this kind of stuff right now."

But Randy's guess was way off. Though of course Eric agreed it wasn't the most pleasant of topics, he did appreciate Randy talking to him about what he'd gone through when he lost his grandmother. It made me him feel…less alone. Yes, he knew he had his friends and his family but they were all going through this together. None of them had ever experienced a loss like the one they knew was coming and so they were drawing from each others strengths to help them through the situation. But Randy, he'd already gone through this all. It may have been with his grandmother and not his mother but from the stories he told it was close enough.

Maybe when they were done talking about Donna Eric could talk to Randy about some of the things he had been feeling, some of the things he had been worrying about, surely randy would have some sort of advice or wise words to share.

"Yeah… I mean no." Eric said before he scowled while thinking of a way to tell Randy he wasn't offended and wouldn't mind talking about this stuff, "Maybe we can talk about it some other time."

"Sure." He agreed.

Silence.

Cautiously Randy looked over at Eric, he was nervous not so much because of the question but rather the answer that could possibly follow, "So she uh she really misses me? Donna, I mean."

"Yeah, of course she does, Randy." Eric quickly replied and then continued with the details, "And like I said I've known her almost my whole life. I've seen her at her ups and her downs. Through all kinds of emotions like when she was at her happiest like when he story got published in our school paper and at her saddest like when I accidentally ran over her cat…"

"You ran over her cat?" Randy asked in shock.

Eric ignored the question and went on with his words, "I can tell when she's feeling a certain way and right now she's feeling miserable. At least when you were e there she would stay and talk with us, now she pretty much sitting by the phone twenty-four seven. She misses you."

Randy scowled, confused by what he'd just heard, "You seriously ran over her cat? Why haven't I heard that story?"

"Okay, Randy, buddy." Eric started to say after clearing his throat and scooting closer to the edge of his seat—he'd even unclasped his hands and raised his right one midway in the air, "I think you're missing the point…"

"No, I get it. Donna's miserable and misses me." Randy interjected once more with the quick recap, "I miss her too. I love her. I'm just…I'm not sure she loves me the same way I do her."

"What? Of course she loves you, man. And in the same way that you love her…She agreed to spend the rest of her life with you right? That's telling you something right there." Eric reminded with a grin.

"Right." Randy agreed, "But she did the same with you."

Instantly Eric's grin faded away as he heard Randy's point. It was a very valid one. And then he realized it. This wasn't just about Randy thinking Donna didn't love him the same way that he did it was about Randy thinking that Donna was still in love with _him_. Part of him felt guilty about that thought even being put in the guys head and the other part wanted to laugh and wonder how the heck that crazy idea had even gotten into Randy's head.

He shook his head—hiding a slight smirk—as he got ready to try to fix this mess.

"Yeah, but that was like seven years ago. I mean if we were dogs it would be forty-nine years, and that's like ancient history." Eric said hoping his argument was a convincing one, "It's been years since Donna and I felt the way you think we feel about each other. Not since…probably that New Years that I came home from Africa and we kissed out in my parents' driveway."

A light smirk slowly crawled onto Eric's lips as he thought back to that night. He had been nervous about coming back home.

He had been nervous about seeing his friends, from what he'd heard they'd all changed and gone through some crazy stuff. He had been nervous about seeing his mom; he may have told her that he would be coming home for New Years but he didn't say he was staying, he had to leave the next week and he knew that piece of information would break her heart. He had been nervous about seeing his father, after all he did miss his first plane over and knew Red would be the one to pick him up from the airport. He had been nervous about the whole start of the new decade starting and the old one ending.

But when he'd seen Donna sitting there on the hood of the Vista Cruiser and when they shared that kiss…even if that's all it was a kiss that didn't turn into anything more…it eased all of his nerves and made him feel like he was home.

"Wait a minute." Randy spoke up, shaking Eric from the memory. "Was that New Years 1980?"

"Yeah, why?"

Though Randy was shaking giving a silent 'nothing' the way his gaze move down to his food told Eric there was something.

"We had just broken up like a week or two before that. She never said anything to me about that. I was there that night too." Randy decided to share on his own.

Eric was mentally kicking himself. Why? Why hadn't he just said that he and Donna hadn't felt like that since Africa and just left it at that?

"Uh okay, how about we back track a little?" Eric suggested, hoping they could forget the previous conversation and start over, "Donna misses you, Randy."

Again Randy shook his head back and forth, "Eric, I appreciate you coming to talk to me and trying to help me and Donna but after what you just told me and the way she reacted when we found out about you and Jackie…how can I don't still believe that she's still in love with you? I mean you might be right and she might love me too. But it's like you're the one who still has her heart. And I don't wanna be her second choice."

Right away Eric's mind flashed back to just before Donna had run off with Kelso to California after she'd broken up with Casey Kelso and he'd said those exact word to her. He remembered how painful those words had been to just say out loud and he firmly believed that Randy must currently be feeling the same way he had back then.

Who knew that he and Randy would have so much in common?

"Randy, man, you have no idea how much I can understand that." Eric stated trying to stress his words as much as he could, "But you've got to believe me, I am not Donna's number one choice. I don't even think I'm on the top five. You're her number one choice, you're the guy who's captured most of her heart. And I say most only because you know what? You right, there's probably a little piece of Donna's heart that could still be in love with me just like there's a little piece of my heart that will always belong to her."

"But those pieces are tiny pieces." He held up his index finger and thumb squished together with not much space between them, to help justify his words. "And the only reason they're there is because Donna and I were each others firsts. First kiss, first dance, first date, first boyfriend and girl friend, first….fiancés." he added, quickly changing that last one or else he would have been sharing the events that occurred the day Bob and Midge renewed their wedding vows.

Eric went on, "You never really get over your first love. But that doesn't mean you'll never fall in love again with someone else or that you won't love them more than you loved your first love. It's like…Okay, imagine that your first love came through that door right now." he instructed, pointing to the entrance doors of the restaurant, "You'd feel that stir of old feelings seeing her here wouldn't you? But that doesn't mean you don't love Donna, right?"

"No. I mean I would still love Donna but I wouldn't feel any old feelings stirring up." Randy answered and then went on to explain, "If anything I'd be kinda scared and pretty freaked out. My first love died almost five years ago in a car accident."

Eric rapidly blinked his eyes, not sure of how to respond to that, "Okay then, let's…let's try a different approach, huh?"

Not waiting for a reply, Eric took a deep breath before starting again, "When you guys found out about me and Jackie and Donna got upset and started acting sort of jealous, that wasn't the Donna you know and love it wasn't the Donna that loves and wants to marry you. That was the teenage redheaded tomboy Donna who shared her first kiss with me on the hood of my old car, it wasn't the mature blonde career woman Donna who wants to spend the rest of her life with you."

All of a sudden Eric paused as a frown indented on his forehead, "Okay I just made Donna sound like some psycho with two personalities, lemme try again…"

"No." Randy said as he shook his head slightly, "I understand what you're saying."

"Really?"

"Yeah and you've got a point." He said with a nod.

"Seriously?" Eric asked still not quite believing his ears.

Again Randy nodded his head, "Yeah, but you know one thing that still gets me is, why didn't Donna call me? I gave her the number and everything."

"Because she's Donna." Eric said flat out with the tiniest of shrugs, "And even though she's all for women's rights and independence…she's a pretty big feminist but she still pretty old fashion and thinks it should be the guy who makes the first move in asking for forgiveness and not the other way around."

"That's true. You know," he began to say, "When we first got the call about your mom, Donna was pretty shaken up and at first I wasn't even gonna come. I thought this should be time that your Mom spent with you guys, the people she loves and well had known longer, but Donna wanted me to come. She knew I'd been through this with my grandparents and she wanted me to help her and you guys through this. I guess I really should start working on that."

A puzzled look made it's way to Eric face as he asked "So does that mean you're gonna call Donna and talk to her?"

"No."

Eric opened his mouth, ready to argue but Randy spoke up before Eric could say a word.

"I was thinking I could go back to your parents' house with you and talk to her in person." He informed with a smirk.

"Great!" Eric said grinning happily, "That's, that's a great idea."

"Yeah. But there is one thing you've gotta do for me before I can go with you."

"Um…okay." replied Eric in a nervous tone; he was already fearing the worse.

Randy eyed the man infront of him for several seconds before finally speaking, "You've gotta tell me the story of how you ran over Donna's cat."

A large sigh of relief escaped Eric's lips and he relaxed in his seat. He could handle that!

"Okay. But before I say anything else, I want to clarify this was an accident." He said stressing the last word and pointing his index finger in the air before beginning his tale, "So Donna and I had been dating for like a year and she had this cat, Mr. Bonkers who…"

0o0o0o

"No."

"Yeah."

"You _didn't_."

"I did. I mean it wasn't just me, the guys helped out too but…yeah, I did." Hyde admitted with a smirk.

He and Angela were sitting at the kitchen table with their reheated by microwave, McDonald's coffee and chatting away about various topics—neither one of them noticing that they'd been sitting and talking for almost a complete hour. The current subject of conversation was about the different things they'd done when they were teenagers and it look like Angela was still surprised by the adventure Hyde had just shared with her.

"Wow. I must pass by that thing everyday." Angela shared as she shook her head, "I…I can't believe that you and your friends are the artists behind the hand giving the finger…I mean the pot leaf, that's painted on the water tower."

Hyde's smirk grew a smile as he heard the teasing tone she had used when mentioning the part about the hand giving the finger, "Yeah, well when you grow up in a town like Point Place you gotta make your own fun." He explained, "For us it was either vandalize the water tower or set something on fire. The fire one probably would've landed us some jail time so we went with the water tower one."

"I think you made the right choice." She commented with a smile.

"What about you?" he questioned, "You ever vandalize anything?"

Angela shook her head, "Oh no. I could never get away with it. You were lucky, you had your siblings. I was an only child and constantly under my parents microscope. Although…I was known to sneak out of my room at least once a month and go to the theater where they would play some of those old double features."

"Wow." Hyde said in a playful, sarcastic tone, "You were a big troublemaker, huh?"

"I couldn't be a troublemaker like _you_ apparently were." She fought back, still wearing her smile, "My parents were very strict. In fact I'm a bit shocked that you were able get away with so much mischief with your parents."

Looking down at his coffee, Hyde gave a shrug, "Yeah, well I was never really at the top of their priority list."

As soon as Hyde heard his words he knew he had said the wrong thing. Well it was right in the sense that it was true, he never was at the top of Bud and Edna's list of priorities—he doubted they ever even had one—but as far as Angela knew there was no Bud and Edna Hyde, Red and Kitty Forman were his parents. He didn't know how he'd let that slip up happen, he'd been so good at remembering that Red and Kitty were supposed to be his parents, mostly because he already saw them as his parents long before any of this cancer mess. Even when Angela had mentioned him having siblings he didn't object or correct her.

Maybe he hadn't actually said the words out loud, maybe he'd said them in his head or maybe she didn't hear him. He really did hope that Angela hadn't heard him and they could go back to enjoying their takeout coffee and light conversation but when he looked over at her and saw the puzzled expression on her face he knew he had some explaining to do.

"I mean…" he struggled to come up with a believable justification for his previous statement. Several seconds passed and Hyde still hadn't a clue of what to say…perhaps it was time to tell her the truth. "I…I've gotta come clean with you, Angie."

Angela watched carefully as Hyde exhaled abit loudly before he started speaking again.

"Red and Kitty aren't my real parents. At least not biologically. My biologically parents are Edna Hyde and William Barrnet. He's a pretty cool guy; I met him a few years back with the help of The Formans. Edna though, she ran out on me when I was seventeen. and that's when The Forman's took me in." he informed the young woman sitting next to him yet didn't look up at her, "I've known them since I was about six or seven years old when I met Eric. And I've considered them all family for years."

Hyde lifted his head now, ready to explain how and why this 'lie' had started, "Jackie and me only started calling Mom, 'Mom' after her cancer started and she got admitted to the hospital. We were worried about he whole 'immediate family only' deal so she asked us to start calling her Mom. So we did." He gave a short pause, "And I don't know about Jackie but the first time I called her 'Mom,' it felt like the most natural thing."

A smile spread across Angie's face as she said, "Of course it did. She is your mom."

Still surprised by the grin that Angela was wearing Hyde opened his mouth to protest but didn't even get word in as Angela continued.

"Steven, many of my patients are visited by their children but only a handful of them have the type of relationship that you have with Mrs. Forman. Most of them, they come in and exchange hellos then they stay and visit for an hour maybe an hour and a half but then they leave and don't come back till the next day or the day after that. When Mrs. Forman was in the hospital you refused to leave her room." She reminded but still wasn't through making her point.

"I've seen how you take care of her. I've seen how you try to help her out as much as you can. I've also seen how protective you are of her—just like Mr. Forman. It actually is sort of surprising that you aren't his biological son." She commented and they shared a small laugh, "I can tell how much Mrs. Forman means to you. They are your parents. Maybe not biologically but in every other way."

Hearing this Hyde wanted to eagerly move his head up and down and tell Angie that that really was _exactly_ how he felt—just about word for word. He even had the urge to ask her how she understood so well. Instead though, his Zen took over and all he could do was nonchalantly nod his head.

"Yeah." He said coolly before he scowled just slightly as he stared back at Angie, "You know, you don't seem all that surprised by my confession."

Angela shrugged her shoulders, "Well I guess it's not much of a confession if it's already something that's known."

"You knew?"

"I figured it out awhile back." The young nurse explained.

Hyde's smirk gradually began to reappear, "Oh yea? What, you looked up my file at the hospital and found my birth certificate?"

"I suppose I could have done that but no." she started to say, "I actually figured it out during one of the times that Mrs. Forman was in the hospital and she was calling you out on something and she used your full name. Steven James Hyde. And then I realized, _Hyde_ is not the same as _Forman_."

The Sherlock Holmes-like tone she used in the last part of her story made Hyde chuckle.

"Sounds like you do a little detective work on the side." He said jokingly.

As she titled her head to the side, Angela thought over his words before speaking, "Well I did read a lot of Nancy Drew books when I was younger."

"Sneaking out to go to old movies and reading Nancy Drew books." Hyde summed up the information that Angie had shared about her younger self, "You were a real handful weren't you?"

"Oh stop it." She said as she lightly and in a playful manner smacked his arm causing his smirk to grow, "Tell me more about the water tower and the other adventures you had there."

Hyde was silent as he gathered together all the various memories that took place up on that rickety old tower. There were plenty of them. Some of them Hyde felt like he could share with Angela and some that should probably be kept as a secret of the gang's. As he thought back to the time that Eric had fallen off the water tower—debating over whether it was a story to share or not—Hyde realized there hadn't been a Water Tower Memory in almost four years and even that memory hadn't included the whole gang and was just him and Jackie and six pack of beer. Maybe it was time to make a new memory and pay the water tower a long over due visit…maybe.

He shook his head as if trying to dissolve those thoughts of going to the water tower. He instantly felt bad for even considering leaving over there when things here with Kitty were going from bad to worse. He needed to be here. Maybe they could visit the water tower some other time or maybe the water tower was done making memories. Not wanting to think more about it, Hyde focused on some of the happier memories that had been made on the water tower and found one he wanted to share with Angela.

"Okay, you know that 'Michael plus Fez' thing that's written up there?"

"Yes." She nodded frowning slightly; that piece of graffiti had always confused her she'd never heard the name Fez until she saw it on the tower and when she met…then it hit her and both her smile and her eyes grew in size, "Your friends Michael and Fez are _the_ Michael and Fez?"

"Yup."

Angela was still surprised and a little confused, "Wait. I thought Michael was married."

"Yeah, he is." He confirmed and then went on, "But we're all pretty sure she's just his beard."

Angie couldn't help but let out a laugh at that and soon Hyde was laughing right along with her.

"It sounds like you all have a lot of great memories up there on that water tower." She said once their laughter had died down.

Nodding his head again Hyde's smirk grew as he thought back to some of the other moments, "Yeah. Well, most of us do."

"What do you mean?"

Hyde took in a deep breath before explaining, "Well see, just about every time we went up there Kelso fell off the thing. So I'm not really sure what he remembers."

"Oh my." Angie gasped with concern, "Is he alright?"

"I don't know." Hyde replied with another shrug, "You're a nurse and you've met him. You tell me."

Again Angela found herself laughing aloud and it wasn't long before Hyde joined in as well.

The twosome were so caught up in their laughter and conversation that neither one of them noticed the figure lurking in the background between the dining room and the entrance door to the basement. The figure however, did notice them.

Laurie Forman scowled as she watched her adopted brother sitting and laughing with some woman that she could only assume was her mother's nurse. They had said she would be coming today but that didn't clear up any of the confusion she felt when she'd gone to drop Lucy off in her parents room and they told her not to bother Hyde. Why couldn't she bother him? Just because he was talking to Florence Nightingale? There must be something going on between the two of them, something that maybe they hadn't yet realized but her parents, most probably her mother, already had.

Following her parents warning allowed Laurie to walk through the kitchen unseen, something she was quite thankful for. She knew if either one of the two saw her and called her or tried to make any type of conversation with her she'd get distracted and most likely loose her nerve for what she was about to do.

Cautiously she pushed the door open and stepped the biggest baby steps she'd ever walked. Immediately she was welcomed with the familiar, but faint, smell of really bad incense and some really good… '_oregano_;' she could also hear the faint music coming from the TV, it wasn't the type of music that could be found on the radio but instead sounded more cartoon-ish which meant whoever was in the basement could only be watching on thing. _Tom and Jerry_. Some things never did change.

"You know, before I used to root for Jerry." A thick accented voice said from below.

Her heart nearly skipped a beat at the sound of his voice. He was there. She was finally, really going to tell him.

"But now I can see that Jerry is a real sonofabitch!" Fez continued to talk, then changing his tone to a more sympathetic one, "Poor Tom."

"Yeah, me too." Another familiar male voice agreed, "You really see things differently when you're a mature adult…Oh man! Did you see that thing with the mouse trap? We gotta try that!"

The blonde rolled her eyes at Michael Kelso's excitement and figured now was as good a time as any. She took in a deep breath and began to descend down the staircase being sure to walk that hipping swinging step she had always used when walking up and down those old stairs.

As soon as she had stepped onto the fourth step from the top, Laurie saw that her guesses were correct. It was Fez and Kelso sitting in the basement and they were watching the talk-less cartoon. With their eyes glued onto the animated cat and mouse running around on TV they weren't aware Laurie had entered the room until she spoke up.

"Jeeze, doesn't anything in this house ever change?" she asked aloud, making her entrance.

At the sound of the voice from the past, a wide eyed Fez turned to see the woman who had saved him from being sent back to his homeland, meanwhile Kelso literally jumped out of his seat looking just as shocked—if not more—as his foreign friend.

"La…Laurie." He stammered, "Wha…what are you doing here?"

Laurie looked over at Kelso with a clearly annoyed expression as she answered in a tone leaking with sarcasm "Selling Girl Scout cookies."

"Oh! I'll take fifteen boxes of whatever has chocolate in them!" Fez exclaimed already on his feet and digging into his pockets for any cash he had on him.

"Hold on a second, buddy." Kelso stopped his best friend's actions by holding an outstretched arm infront of him, he then suspiciously eyed Laurie up and down, "I don't think she's really here selling Girl Scout Cookies. I don't see any boxes of cookies."

"Guess I was wrong. It looks like you finally got to ask The Wizard for a brain." Laurie commented, ending with an evil smirk.

"Yeah…" Kelso answered with a proud grin that quickly dropped when he suddenly felt very puzzled, "Wait…what wizard?"

Laurie gave another roll of her eyes before deciding to clear things ups, "I came to see my mom." She informed and the two goofballs, knowing how serious the subject was, became very uncharacteristically somber—it just about scared Laurie, "And I need to take care of some things." she paused, "I need to talk to you."

"Oh no!" Kelso interrupted with a laugh and raised open palms, "Sorry Laurie, but this beefcake is off the menu! I'm a married man. We're going on five years now and we've got a kid and…"

"Yeah, yeah that's great." Laurie said clearly not interested in anything Kelso was saying, "I wasn't talking to you anyways. I was talking to Fez."

"Fez?" both Kelso and Fez asked together, one tone sounding surprised and the other frightened.

She nodded, feeling her nerves acting up but trying not to let it show, "Yes."

"Aye." Fez replied—his nervousness obviously showing.

"Haha!" Kelso teased while pointing his finger in Fez's direction, "You're in trouble!"

"Get out, Taternuts." Laurie ordered.

The mention of his embarrassing high school nickname lead to Kelso dropping open his jaw and letting out a loud, "Ah!"

"No, no. I would like him to stay. Whatever you have to say to me can be said in front of Taternuts." A still worried looking Fez declared.

"Hey!" Kelso's shout went unheard

Fez continued, "Plus I would like to have a witness incase you decide to kill me to steal my soul."

Looking back and forth from one young man to the other Laurie wasn't quite sure what to do. Though she'd always known telling Fez that he was the father of her daughter would not be done in the most ideal way, it didn't mean she wanted Kettlehead Kelso to be there when she finally got to tell him the news. Maybe now wasn't the best time to do this…

"Ugh!" she let out in a frustrated manner as she dropped herself onto the aging sofa, "Forget it. It can wait." She said while in her head she bitterly thought '_Like when Daddy's in the room.'_

An awkward silence—with the exception of the crashing sounds coming from the TV whenever Tom crashed into the various items Jerry had led him into—fell over the basement. While Kelso had quickly settled back into the couch and gone back to watching the cartoon show, Laurie's gaze was down on her hands and Fez's gaze was on her. He noticed that in that moment she wasn't the same fiery vixen that he'd married all those years ago, she looked disappointed, sad even and it filled Fez with guilt. Whatever she had to talk to him about must have been important.

Hoping to make things better, Fez stood from his seat and headed over to the deep freeze with the idea of getting a frozen treat for the solemn looking blonde but then remembered there was nothing in there except the ice on the side of the freezer…perhaps he could turn it into a snow cone.

"Homemade snow cone?" he offered.

Laurie tired to hold back her smile as she shook her head, "No thanks."

"So Laurie, what've you been up to?" Kelso asked as _Tom and Jerry_ cut to commercial, one he'd seen a hundred times before.

"Not much. I live in Milwaukee now and I finished beauty school a few years back so I'm working full time at a salon there and…" she suddenly paused; this may not have been the best time but really would there ever be? "But most of my time is spent taking care of my daughter."

Instantly Laurie turned to Fez wanting to catch his reaction but all he did was smile politely. The guy didn't have a clue. Just as Laurie opened her mouth to go on into detail a Kelso outburst halted her words.

"I didn't do it!" he shouted once again jumping up and off the couch, "And this time I really mean it!"

"Of course you didn't do it, Taternuts." Laurie said in that fake innocent tone she was known for using as she looked at Kelso then turned her head to look at Fez and smiled, "Because Fez did."

The young foreign man simply stood there smiling and nodding his head, Laurie wondered if he had even heard her. She soon received her answer when she saw his smile drop to floor before his whole body followed.

Laurie leapt onto her feet and she and Kelso looked down at the unconscious man, alarm written on each of their faces.

"Oh man…" Kelso said his voice full of concern until a goofy grin broke out onto his face, "Did you see the way his eyes rolled back into his head? That was so cool! Let's wake him up so you can make him do it again!"

* * *

_**Author's Note:** And that would be Chapter 43 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Will the water tower receive another visit from the basement gang? How will Randy's talk with Donna go? Will their talk lead to a conversation with Eric and Donna? What will Fez have to say when he wakes up? Will he wake up or will he just end up 'doing it again?' Are Jackie, Brooke, and Betsy almost home? And what was that thing with that Tom and Jerry did with the mouse trap that Kelso wants to try? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Just a few quick things before you go, meant to mention it before but though you all would rather read the chapter first._

_Okay, number one. As voted by you readers it looks like Sunday will be the day that I update this story. Now I'm not saying it will; be every Sunday, it could be every other Sunday too—at least for a little while longer. If you all think another day would work better let me know and I'll see what I can do. Number two I have a new poll up on y profile page about my next oneshot, if you all could drop by and cast your vote it would be very much appreciated and thank you so much in advance. Okay that's it :D_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	45. That's Exactly What I Was Thinking

_**Disclaimer: **I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **Hello everyone! How are you this Sunday? (Or Monday or whatever day your reading this on lol) Hope you're doing well. I want to apologize for not posting a new chapter last Sunday. I really do feel terrible about it but I kinda feel behind with school work and then had to deal with some real life stuff that was more frustrating than fun but all that seems to have sorted out and I'm able to post a new chapter this Sunday! Yay! Before the chapter begins I just want to say a great big thank you to you all! I am so glad that you all enjoyed the last chapter and each and every one of your reviews really did make me smile, they mean so much! Thank you! *hugs* As always please remember I am not a doctor nor am I training to be one in fact I'm thinking of going into a different career that I think is farther away from being a doctor than my previous choice…still am watching House MD though! Nonstop, practically lol. Don't have much else to say (surprise I know, enjoy it while you can lol) except thank you once again! Your support and eagerness to read this story is what pushes me to continue it! THANK YOU! Okay now before I really start to ramble here's the new chapter! Hope you like it and will review if you have the chance! Thanks in advance and Enjoy!_

* * *

_Patiently Hyde sat behind the video camera filming his adopted mother as she answered the question he'd asked less than a minute ago. The scene in front of him was the same as it had been for the past hour or so, Kitty sitting in her seat at the kitchen table, smiling as she rambled on—though one difference was that the petite brunette that had previously been sitting next her, trying to get on camera too, was nowhere to be found._

"_A full house is a house full of love." Kitty said a saying she was known to say time and time again, "And not, as Red says, a house full of dumbasses." She whispered the last word. "And a house full of love makes a happy home."_

_Hyde smirked, happy to not only have caught on film one of her mottos of life but also her saying the word 'dumbass.' Future generations were gonna love this and if not, he knew he would._

"_And this house has always been a very happy home, not just for me, Red, and Eric, and Laurie but I think…at least I hope for you kids too." She continued to speak, "I like to think, whether it's true or not, but that you kids saw this house as a place where you were always felt welcomed and most of all safe."_

_Still smirking, Hyde nodded, wondering if she knew how true her words really were, "We did. We still do."_

_Kitty grinned proudly, "I thought so." She giggled lightly before going on, "With all the time you all spent here. Even today, you and Jackie are living here and Fez, Michael and his family come by every time a holiday is close by…although I think that may have something to do with the holiday cookies I make." She giggled, "And Donna and Randy too. Bob may be living over in Florida but every time they go to visit him they try to make a quick stop over here for a day or so and that's always nice."_

"_What about Forman and Laurie?" Hyde asked sounding almost bitter._

"_Well Eric lives so far out there in Seattle, it's understandable that he can't make a trip over here very often." She answered quickly, as if she'd reminded herself of the 'reason' before. "And Laurie…" she paused, pressing her lips together, trying to think of an excuse for her absent daughter, "She never really was a homebody."_

_Hearing her weak laugh made Hyde feel guilty for asking a question that reminded her of how ungrateful her children were. Swiftly he decided to steer the conversation in a different direction._

"_You mentioned before that you never got tired of us always hanging out here but you…you never even got tired of having to pick up after us or making us all those brownies and stuff?"_

_She shook her head, "Nope. As long as you kids were having fun I never minded picking up and as far as the baking goes I've always found so much joy in baking. And personally I think if it weren't for you kids being here to give those brownies and treats to, Red would have been diabetic by the time he turned forty."_

_Laughing again, Hyde couldn't help but smile._

"_And I loved how you all felt so comfortable to walk in and out of here as you please and helping yourself to whatever we had." She added, her smile in place._

_Hyde chuckled lightly, "Yeah, I bet Red was never a big fan of that though."_

"_Maybe not a fan, but I don't think it bothered him all that much."_

"_Come on, Mom." He began, "You already convinced me that Laurie and Forman got a long when they were little, I don't think you're gonna get me to believe that Red was actually happy about us hanging out here."_

"_Well he wasn't 'Mr. Rogers Happy' but I do think that he was happy with the fact that you kids were here in our basement, getting into normal teenage kind of trouble, instead of being out there and getting into the kind of trouble that would have police calling and interrupting his reading of the paper." Kitty explained to him, "Having you kids here may not have led to many quiet and peaceful kind of moments but there were never and dull ones either."_

_0o0o0o_

"And and and I wanted to bring Amy but Mama said only bring three." Lucy rambled on to her grandparents as the three of them rested on the bed.

Apparently Lucy was just shy around strangers and once she got comfortable around those near her she was quite the chatterbox. She was currently telling her grandparents about the doll she had left behind at home in 'Milkwakee' after having introduced and informed them all about the three dolls she did bring and were currently scattered around her as she sat in the space between both Red and Kitty's legs, facing both of them.

"Sos I left Amy at home but it's ok cuz Kat is there. I didn't want to bring her cuz she gets car sick." She explained and Kitty smiled and nodded along while Red frowned slightly, trying to keep up with the story, "And, and, they're keeping each other company at home cuz they're best friends. Just like Holly and Paige and Emma are best friends."

The little girl then scooped up the three dolls—Emma, a baby doll with blonde hair and blue eyes, Paige, another baby doll with brown hair and green eyes, and Holly, a Barbie dolls dressed in a dark blue evening gown—into her arms and grinned brightly at her audience.

"But they're all still friends." She assured them.

"Well that is very nice to hear." Kitty said smiling bright, "Do your dolls like making new friends?"

Lucy's brown eyes lit up with excitement—she knew new friends for her dolls meant new dolls for her! "They love it!"

Her grandmother let out a little funny sounding giggle at her giddiness before saying, "Then I think your Grandpa Red should take you to visit the toy story we have here in Point Place to look for a new friend for your dolls."

"Kitty…" Red groaned lightly. It wasn't that he didn't like the thought of taking his granddaughter shopping and getting to spend some time with her, he just wasn't a fan of anything that would lead him away from his wife's beside and take away what little time he had left with her.

Never even glancing at Red, Kitty continued her conversation their granddaughter, "Now, it may not be today but before you leave back home I'll make sure he takes you to the store and lets you pick out _any_ doll you want."

"Any doll? Really?" the small girl asked enthusiastically.

"Mm hmm."

The grin on Lucy's face doubled in size as she imagined walking into a toy aisle full of pretty dollies just waiting to come home with her and become friends with her other dolls. Suddenly that same smile diminished some as she remembered that her grandma had said that Grandpa Red would take her to the toy store. With nervously eyes, Lucy stared at the balding man lying in the bed. She was still a bit frightened of him after she saw him yell at her mommy—she had never seen anyone yell at her mommy—but he didn't seem too mean where she was afraid he would hurt her. Still he didn't seem as friendly or goofy as Uncle Marty.

"And you come too?" Lucy asked as she swung her head form one grandparent to the other.

The hopeful tone she used, nearly broke Kitty's heart, "Oh honey, I wish I could but…"

"Listen Lucy," Red said hoping to take over and save Kitty the heartbreak of having to tell the little girl what was going on. However after those two words he drifted off not knowing how to explain all this cancer stuff to a four year old. Breaking the news to their adult kids years before had been hard enough.

"Mama said your sick." Lucy spoke up in a quiet voice that was muffled slightly by the way she was looking down and playing with Holly's hair.

Red and Kitty exchanged looks before turning back to Lucy.

Kitty nodded her head, "You're Mommy's right, I am sick. And you know what? If I wasn't sick I would take you to that toy store myself _right now_." two tiny smiles appeared at those words, and she went on, "But I'll tell you what, which ever doll you decide to get—whenever you decide to get it—it'll still be a gift from your Grandpa Red and me. Okay?"

Lucy looked up with uncertain eyes at first but then her joyful smile reappeared, "Okay!"

"Good." Kitty stated, returning the smile.

In the next instant Lucy remembered her manners and threw her arms around the fragile older woman, of course Kitty didn't mind and only pulled the child into an even tighter hug, "Thank you Granma!" she said happily before letting go of Kitty and turning to Red before wrapping her little arms around his neck; it caught him a bit off guard at first but it didn't take long for him to begin hugging her back, "Thank you Granpa!"

"I'm gonna make you a get well card, Granma!" she informed gleefully after she pulled out of the embrace with her grandfather.

Misty eyed, Kitty nodded, "Okay, sweetie."

The couple watched as the blonde haired little girl bounced off their bed and scurried over to the arm chair where their daughter had placed a travel bag earlier, and pulled out a box of crayons and several sheets of paper. They continued to watch, their grins growing—one more than the other—as Lucy settled herself into the 'workshop' on the carpeted floor.

"Soo," Kitty began to say as she looked at her husband; the corners of her mouth close to touching her ears, "How does it feel to be called 'Granpa?'" she giggled.

"Like I should be wearing a hearing aid and shaking a cane up in the air while yelling at some dumbass kids to get off my lawn." He grumbled though couldn't help the small smirk that broken out on his lips by the end of his statement.

His wife laughed again, "Well it sounds like if you take out the hearing aid and cane, it feels exactly the same."

Red shook his head as her jab before asking, "What about you? You okay with being called 'Granma?'"

"Of course I do." She replied her smile stretching even farther on her face, "It makes me feel so wonderful…it almost give me enough strength to get out of this bed and go bake some homemade chocolate chip cookies."

The pair looked at each other and a silent conversation, only understood by the two of them as they looked in the other's eyes, was had.

'Do you wanna give it a try?' his worried green eyes asked.

Her blue—in both ways—eyes answered back, 'I can't.'

And just like that they both turned away, breaking eye contact and watched Lucy on the ground.

"She has a lot of Laurie in her doesn't she?" Kitty asked smiling lightly.

"Yeah." He agreed in a soft voice, "Thank God."

"Red."

Noting the disappointed tone in his wife's voice, Red went on to explain, "What? It's not that I don't want her having any trace of Tonto in her…" he paused and tried to contain his smirk, "Alright that's not the main reason."

Kitty shook her head, fighting back her own smile as she listened to Red's explanation.

"I'm just saying if Lucy does take after Laurie, then Laurie will have an easier time raising her." He shared and before Kitty could make a comment, he added, "At least until she becomes a teenager and Laurie'll get a taste of her own medicine and understand all the worrying we did over her."

She let out a small laugh and couldn't help but wonder what the little girl who was happily drawing on the floor would grow up to be like. However just as she began to wonder about her granddaughter's future another thought entered her mind—one concerning Lucy's near future. She turned her attention away from Lucy and over to Red.

"How do you think it's going down there?" Kitty questioned, sounding a bit worried.

A heavy exhale was released by Red before he spoke, "I don't know, Kitty. I don't know. But in case we need it, I've got my hunting rifle in the closet, loaded and ready to go."

"Red Forman!" she scolded, not liking the idea of a loaded gun being so close to their young granddaughter.

"Fine." He grumbled back, "It's not loaded. But it's still in there."

Another light giggle managed to escape from Kitty's lips as she heard the seriousness in Red's voice and at the way he pointed towards the door of their shared closet. She thought it was cute that he was so protective of their daughter but still she wished he could see that Laurie needed and wanted to do this on her own. Laurie herself had told them this earlier, and though Kitty had remembered she wondered if Red had. Either way it wouldn't hurt to remind him.

Scooting closer to close up the small gap between them Kitty wrapped her bony arms around his strong right one and began to run her hands over it in a comforting manner.

"Honey, we need to let Laurie do this on her own." She started to say, "She's an adult now. They're all adults now."

Not sure if he heard correctly, Red swung his head to look at his wife, staring at her with both his eyebrows raised up with surprise. It didn't take long for Kitty to notice the look of shock she was receiving and soon a small frown had made its way to her forehead.

"And what is that look for?" she asked curiously.

"You. And everything you just said." He answered before deciding to refresh her memory, "You just said that we need to let Laurie handle this thing with Alibaba on her own and how all of the kids are all adults now."

Kitty moved her head up and the down, "Right."

"Then what was all that fake sleeping and giving Steven that 'little push he needs' about?" he questioned, his surprised look now having been replaced with a deep scowl.

"Oh Red, that's completely different."

"How?"

"Because Laurie knows that she has to do this. Steven doesn't…at least not yet. And that's why we have to give him the little push." She tired to clarify as best she could, "It's like when we were teaching the kids how to walk. At first we had to hold their hands and guide them but then before we knew it they were off. Walking their own paths to becoming the mature adults they are now." she finished her statement with a tight smile before resting her head on her husband's shoulder.

0o0o0o

Meanwhile down in the basement were three of those same 'mature adults.' One still out cold on the floor while another sat kneeled on the floor beside him and the third 'mature adult' stood above them both looking on at the scene with an eager-like expression on his face.

"Come on!"

"No!"

"Please Laurie."

"I said no, Kelso." The blonde answered in a clearly annoyed tone.

But Kelso wasn't giving up just yet.

"But it'll be fun!" he declared.

Laurie rolled her eyes, "How will you stuffing things down Fez's pants be fun?"

"Cuz I'll be putting things that you're not supposed to put in pants!" he replied with a dopey, 'isn't it obvious?' grin, "Like…Oo! Pudding! Or I think I might have some old firecrackers hidden somewhere in here…"

"No!" Laurie shouted stopping Kelso's scanning of the old hang out.

"Man! That's not fair! First you won't let me kick him in the pants and now you won't let me stuff things down there!" he declared in a disappointed child like tone before dropping himself onto the beat up couch, "I never get to have any fun!"

Wearing a scowl, very similar to her father's, Laurie watched the man-child whine on the sofa, "How can you think of doing something 'fun' when your best friend could be hurt?"

"Cuz I'm me! God Laurie, we've know each other for years—one of those years we spent doing 'it'—you should know me by now." he reasoned but she only rolled her eyes, not that he noticed since he gave his own disregard wave of his hand, "Besides Fez is fine!"

The room suddenly became quiet and Michael Kelso did not like quiet. He didn't even like the word 'quiet,' he always got confused on how to spell it and would sometimes end up writing 'quite' instead. Slowly he turned to the pair on the basement floor and his face softened with concern. Fez had actually been out for awhile now.

"He…he is fine right?" he asked nervously.

"I don't know!" Laurie cried in a frightened tone that Kelso was not use to hearing her speak in, "I mean he still hasn't woken up. He should have woken up by now, right?"

"I…" was all Kelso, who had now kneeled beside his best friend, managed to say before Laurie continued.

"And the floor here is pretty hard he cold have hurt his head." She stated and Kelso nodded but still couldn't get a word in, "He's breathing but…I think he's breathing too slowly. Isn't he? Or is that normal? Is he breathing too fast?"

Kelso leaped up onto his feet in, feeling panicked and scared—and sounding like it too. "I don't know! I'm not a doctor or nurse or dentist or anything like that!"

Her ears perked up at the last part of Kelso's nervous breakdown, "That's it! A nurse! Go get the one that's upstairs!"

"Huh?" came Kelso's puzzled response.

"The lady upstairs. I think she's gotta be my mom's nurse, " Laurie explained before ordering him once again, "Go get her!"

A hurt expression, pout included, appeared on Kelso face, "Angela's here? Why didn't she say 'hello?"'

"I don't know Kelso but here's an idea, you can ask her when you _go get her_!" Laurie said through gritted teeth, her tone going from sweet and innocent to evil and scary in flash, "She's sitting in the kitchen with Hyde."

"Aww that's so cute." Kelso gushed while grinning like a buffoon once more, "They're probably on their first date."

Laurie looked up from Fez and snarled, "A date? You mean the orphan really does have some sort of Florence Nightingale complex?"

The usually man-pretty face scrunched up with confusion when he heard Laurie's words and tried to remember who Florence Nightingale was. Then he remembered and he shook his head back and forth.

"Nah, I don't think Hyde's all that into the mom from The Brady Bunch." He shared, mixing up the two Florence's, "I think he's just got a thing for nurses."

Instead of rolling her eyes and scoffing as she would have normally done, the blonde stood up from the floor and smiled an evil looking smile.

"You know, I thought I saw something there when I noticed them on the way down here."

He nodded, "Yeah they're a pretty cute couple."

She shrugged her shoulders and gave an 'Eh' as her reply and Kelso couldn't help but find himself agreeing.

"Yeah, I feel the same." He confessed, "She's too pretty for Hyde. She should be with some like….well like me but I'm….."

"You're married, yeah I get it Taternuts." Laurie interjected in a more than irritated tone; she was already tired of hearing about Michael Kelso's 'perfect life' and she really wanted to get more details on what was going on with her mothers nurse and the stray that lived in her parent's basement, "So have they done anything worth mentioning?"

Kelso thought over the question for a few seconds before ultimately shaking his head, "Nope, don't think so. But I'm guessing Hyde wouldn't mind getting a physical from or with her. Get it?" he asked goofily grinning.

This time Laurie did roll her eyes, "Yeah, Kelso I get it."

"Yeah, I bet Angela looks pretty hot in those nurse uniforms. Those things can make anyone look smokin'." He commented, grin still in place.

Laurie snarled with disgust, "My mother was a nurse."

"I know." Kelso replied and Laurie could have sworn she saw that stupid smile of his grow.

With squinted eyes, Laurie reached over and smacked him hard on the arm—whipping his grin right from his face—and instructed once again, "Go get her!"

"Ow! Okay!" Kelso cried back clutching his wounded arm as he headed up the basement steps. He's was on the fourth step from the bottom when he turned back around, "Wait….get who? Your mom or Angela?"

"Angela!" Laurie exclaimed scaring Kelso up the remaining stairs and in to the kitchen.

"So then while I was in the hospital, Mom got a hold of my birth certificate and…" Hyde said to Angela, sharing with her the water tower story that had lead to him finding out about his biological father. At least he'd started to share the story before he was interrupted by a running Kelso entering the kitchen.

"Angela, Hyde!" he called out, "But mostly Angela. We need your help!"

Concerned, the young nurse looked over and asked calmly, "What's wrong Michael?"

"It probably nothing, Angie." Hyde tried to assure; he wasn't trying to be mean or cold by dismissing whatever Kelso was so worried about, it was just…well he knew his friends a lot better than Angela did. And he knew that while they were known to pull a few dangerous stunts they were know a lot better for doing some really stupid ones too, "Look, Kelso, what ever you got Fez stuck in this time you have to get him out."

"But he's not stuck anywhere, he fainted!" Kelso explained, his voice sounding urgent.

"What?" the duo seated at the round table asked together.

Kelso nodded, "Yeah, and he still hasn't woken up."

"He's down in the basement?" Angela asked.

As soon as she saw Kelso nod Angela stood up from her chair, being sure to keep her composed self, and rushed down to the basement to help the poor foreign man and Hyde soon followed suit. He and Kelso were right behind Angela as she walked through the doorway leading to the underground room.

"Hey Hyde." Kelso suddenly said, once Angela was out of their sight.

Hyde stopped in his steps and turned to Kelso his curious frown deepening when he was met with the big grin on the police officer's face.

"Have you done the turn and cough test yet?" he asked still smiling and let out a laugh, "Ha ha, get it?"

"Yeah man, I get it." Hyde replied, keeping his Zen, "Do you get this?"

In the next instant Hyde reached over and frogged his childhood friend on the same arm Laurie had hit minutes before.

"Ow! Why does everyone keeping doing that?" he questioned in a painful cry before following Hyde down the basements staircase.

When Hyde entered the basement and saw Fez passed out on the floor with Laurie sitting next to him and Angela already kneeling beside them both, he felt just a little surprised but mostly disappointed.

"Man, you already told him?" Hyde asked the blonde as he stepped down the last few steps, "I wanted to be here for that."

Laurie looked up with a sneer, "Maybe you would have been if you weren't busy making kissy faces with 'Hotlips Houlihan' over here."

"Did Laurie just call another girl, 'hot?"" asked a wide eyed Kelso.

However Hyde didn't hear the question and was busy trying to keep his Zen while hoping that Angela was too preoccupied with Fez to have heard the town whore's words. Actually if he was hoping for things he hoped, he had only imagined Laurie saying what she'd said.

"She was my favorite _MASH_ character, well right after Hawkeye of course." Angela said, dashing both of Hyde's hopes as she spoke to Laurie, "But my name's Angela."

"Right. Sorry." Laurie muttered with a nod and then introduced herself, "I'm Laurie. Red and Kitty's daughter."

Angela looked up at this, trying to hide her shock of finally meeting the Forman's 'long lost' daughter who she'd heard several different things about, some good some not so good. Though despite the not so good things, she was glad to see she had returned home to see her mother.

She smiled politely, "It's nice to meet you."

The smile was returned in a much smaller form, after all Laurie wasn't exactly in the mood to make new friends at the minute.

"Yeah it might be nice to meet her but it's not so nice when she starts to stick around." Hyde shot out with a smirk.

He was glad to see Angela wasn't upset or embarrassed by Laurie's comment and instead took it in stride, but that didn't mean he was any less mad at Laurie who at that time was snarling evilly at him.

"Burn!" Kelso shouted—it was abit surprising that that didn't wake Fez up.

At that same moment the side door to the basement swung open and a tall blonde stepped into the room, holding a brown paper bag that looked more like a brown paper bag from a convenience store rather than the brown paper bags that were usually brought into the hangout.

"Hey you guys'll never guess who I saw at the Gas-N-Go…" Donna said ready to tell her story until she saw the scene before her. "What the hell is going on in here?" she asked sounding upset and determined for an answer…wait was that… "Laurie?"

Laurie looked over at her former neighbor, "Yeah, hey Donna."

"Um…hi." Donna stammered still shocked to see the woman, but she was even more puzzled with why Fez was laying down on the floor with everyone surrounding him, "What's going?"

"Fez fainted when Laurie told him he had a kid." Kelso explained and then recalled what Donna had come in saying, "So who'd you see?"

Baffled by the statement Donna shook her head in disbelief, "Wait. So Fez fainted when he found out he has a kid. With Laurie?"

"Yeah, wouldn't you?" a smirking Hyde replied.

"Shut up, Annie!" Laurie shrieked out as she glared daggers at the curly haired man infront of her.

Astonishingly there was no outburst of 'Burn!' after either of the insults, instead Kelso—having not gotten his answer from Donna—settled in on the floor, his concern for his best friend showing once again. He was really taking a long time to wake up.

"He's gonna okay, right?" he asked, looking over at Angela with a look that resembled a lost child's.

"I'm sure he's going to be fine Michael." She reassured with a smile as she raised Fez's legs up a bit, "Do you all having any smelling salts?"

Kelso wrinkled his forehead, "Salt smells? Huh I never noticed." He shrugged, "I don't know if we have any, the kitchen's pretty empty…"

Not wanting to confuse the poor thing even more, Angela interrupted, "Well it doesn't necessarily have to be smelling salts. Maybe something that just has a familiar scent."

While the rest of room's occupants looked around the basement in search of an item to help revive their friend, Donna was suddenly struck with an idea. She reached into the paper bag she held in her hands pulling out one of the various items she had purchased.

"Here take this." She said outstretching her hand that held a _Milky Way_ candy bar.

The worried child-like expression on Kelso's face quickly vanished as he saw the candy, "Awesome! Thanks Donna!"

Hurriedly he reached over and grabbed the chocolate bar, tearing off the wrapper and was just about to take an eager bite when the others in the room shouted his name just before Hyde snatched the treat from the taller man's hands.

"Not for you, moron." He growled, "For Fez!"

"But he's asleep!"

Ignoring Kelso's cry, Hyde handed the open candy to Angela, "Here."

"A candy bar?" she asked suspiciously.

"Trust us on this." He insisted holding out the chocolate bar until Angela took hold of it.

Though she still wasn't convinced that this would help very much, Angela decided to trust Steven and his friends and slowly began to wave the _Milky Way_ over the knocked out foreigner's nose. It was while she was doing this that Donna noticed her presence in the room—her passed out friend on the floor and her ex-fiancé's absent sister were abit of attention grabbers.

"Angela, I didn't know you were coming today. How's Mrs. Forman?" her question being asked in an uneasy tone.

The nurse opened her mouth to give her reply but before a sound could be made the other blonde woman in the room began to speak.

"She doesn't know." Laurie informed as she stood up but remained close to where Fez lay, "Since Heidi here decided to whisk her off on a romantic date to the kitchen table."

Not liking the mocking tone that she spoke in Hyde argued back, "It wasn't a date. We were just talking while we were waiting for Mom and Red to wake up."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, scowling and crossing her arms over her chest, "They're awake."

"No they're not."

Laurie gave a 'duh' like expression as she said, "Uh yeah, they are. I was just talking with them when I dropped Lucy off with them."

Confusion crossed Hyde's face. He and Angela had been up there not too long ago, Red and Kitty could have already woken up…could they? He wanted to ask more but Kelso stepped into the conversation with his own question.

"Who's Lucy?" he asked, looking up at Laurie missing the fact that Fez was slowly starting to come out of his trance.

"My daughter." Laurie explained—not seeing Fez either—"Well mine and Fez's daughter."

And just like that, the second he heard those words, Fez's revival was cut short and eyes rolled back in his head once more before his head fell back on the ground as he passed out for the second time that day.

With alarmed looks on their faces everyone turned their attention to the unconscious foreigner. Having their focus on Fez meant they weren't pay much attention to anything else not even the little girl who had entered the basement and already bounded down the first half of the wooden staircase. She was practically invisible until she looked up at the ceiling and began to speak.

"They're down here, Mommy!" she informed quite loudly—getting the members in the room to turn to look at her.

Kelso's grin reappeared and he held out his open arms for his little girl, "Hey there Baby Girl!"

"Daddy!" Betsy squealed gleefully before running into her father's arms.

Watching as Kelso scooped his daughter into his arms and then stood up, still carrying her like she was his most prized procession, Laurie couldn't help but smile. The smiles exchanged between father and daughter clearly showed their love for one another. That was what she wanted Fez and Lucy to have. But after seeing Fez's reaction to the news of Lucy, she knew that her daughter having the type of relationship with her father similar to one that Kelso and his daughter had was a long shot.

"Laurie, this is my daughter Betsy." Kelso introduced, pulling Laurie out of her thoughts, "Betsy, this is your Uncle Eric's sister, Laurie."

Betsy gave a Kelso grin as she waved, "Hi!"

"Hi Betsy." Laurie replied smiling as she remembered Fez showing her the little girl's baby photos back in '81, she really had grown a lot, "She's a cutie, Kelso."

Scoffing Kelso said in a not so modest way, "Yeah she is, look at who her daddy is! And you should see her mommy."

"Michael?" the voice belonging to the woman Kelso had just been talking about, called as she started to make her way down to the basement, "Michael did you…" her train of thought was lost as she caught the sight of Fez on the floor; she gasped lightly, "What happened in here?"

"Hey babe!" Kelso greeted with a wave and as he shifted Betsy on his hip he began to explain the situation, "Fez fainted. It was pretty cool too. He's already done it twice so there's a chance he could do it again."

"Yay!" Betsy cheered excitedly.

Nodding his head in approval of his daughter's enthusiasm, Kelso cheered along with her until he quickly remembered he wasn't done giving introductions, "Oh Brooke, this Laurie. Laurie, this is my wife, Brooke."

Still not a fan of having these introductions done now, Laurie gave a quick "Hi."

"Hi." Brooke smiled a small smile, her mind still trying to comprehend what was going on, "So um Fez fainted when you told him about the two of you having a daughter?"

Laurie's brows knitted closely together as she stared at the woman she had literally just met, "How did you know about that?"

"Yeah, how did you know about that?" her husband questioned, wanting an answer himself, "I just found out right now!"

"I knew too, Daddy!" Betsy was happy to inform.

Kelso's eyes became wide as his jaw dropped open, "Ah!"

"How did you find out?" Laurie asked, also surprised but sounding more angry than stunned, "Was it my scrawny soon to be dead brother or…"

"Hey Brooke, if Eric's down there tell him he…" a new but familiar voice started to say as they too joined the group in basement; however when they saw their dear friend on the ground they nearly jumped back a step or two, "Oh my God! What happened to Fez?"

"He fainted when Laurie broke the news about Lucy to him." Hyde informed in a Zen manner, from his place beside Fez and Angie.

Jackie's face showed her relief before her regret, "Aww, I wanted to be here for that."

"I was here!" Kelso blissfully shared with room as he raised his free arm high in the air.

Donna's concentration seemed to mostly be on Fez—except for that moment when she had asked about Mrs. Forman but after the response she got, she decided to hold any questions about Kitty until later—but when she heard Jackie's statement she found herself interested in something other than her foreign friend's health.

"Jackie," the former redhead started to say, "you don't know where Eric is? I thought you guys were attached at the lips."

Resisting the want to roll her mismatched eyes, Jackie opened her mouth to speak but never got that chance to get say a thing.

Unexpectedly the passed out man on the floor fluttered his eyes brown eyes open and this time they didn't retreat to the back of his head seconds later. Instead he swiftly pulled himself onto his feet, a mad look in his eyes as he began to yell out a series of words that nobody understood. The group was taken aback, as they stood back and watched the young man's flare-up not knowing what to do.

"Guys, I think Fez is possessed." Kelso said in a frightened voice as he held his little girl close to him and stepped farther away from the body of his best friend.

Though she was abit scared too, Donna tried to keep a straight head, "I think he's speaking his native language."

"I don't care." Kelso whined back, "It's still scaring me. Turn him off!"

Quickly shaking herself out of her shell chocked state, Angela got back into nurse mode and realized this much commotion that Fez was doing to himself would not do him any good. She cautiously stepped towards him.

"Fez, it's Angela." She said softly, "You need to calm down. Take a few deep breaths okay?"

While Angela began to do the exercise of taking in and releasing some deep, slow, breaths, she was completely ignored by Fez. Hyde then decided to step up and try to give his own form of help.

He placed his right palm on his shoulder, "Fez, man, you need to relax."

"Yeah Fez, please calm down." Laurie said keep her voice gentle, "So we can talk."

At those words the mad look in Fez's eyes became even madder as the volume of his voice became louder and his native language came flowing out of his mouth in a much faster rate. Nobody had any clue to what he was saying but they had a pretty good feeling that it was 'Sure thing! I can't wait to talk about the daughter I didn't know I had.'

Laurie's eyes widened with fright and she too stepped back from the rambling, shouting Fez, "Yeah I'm with Kelso. Shut him off, restart him…do whatever you need to do to get him back to the way he was before." She said waving her hand frantically.

Jackie asked, "You mean passed out on the floor?"

"Yeah, sure whatever." Laurie replied still feeling helpless.

"Hey where is everybody?" Eric's voice floated through the air from the kitchen and into the basement.

A minute or two later he and another recognizable face walked down the steps of the basement , freezing on the middle step when they saw the events taking place in the room along with the many occupants in there.

"Woah, full house huh?" Randy said smiling a bit.

At the sound of the two men's voice, two of the women standing in the basement turned their heads to the stairway. One of them smiled and the other had n expression on her face that wasn't as easy to read.

"Randy?" Donna asked in disbelief.

He waved, "Hey Donna."

That was the last clear exchange between Randy and Donna that Eric was able to hear before it got lost in the rest of the noise that was overflowing in the basement. It wasn't just Randy and Donna who were talking there was Fez's extreme Ricky Ricardo rant going on while Hyde, Laurie, and Angela spoke over each other trying to calm Fez down (with Hyde and Laurie occasionally going at it about him and Angela being on their 'date' but not a date) and over on the sidelines stood Kelso and Brooke with Kelso badgering her for an explanation of how she knew about Fez's daughter before him and why she hadn't told him. The fuss was so much Eric could hardly hear himself think.

But through the whole uproar there was one person who was surprisingly quiet as she stood in her spot smiling at Eric. And when he caught her smile he grinned right back at her. It took a few moments but soon enough they were able to meet up infront of the washer and dryer, standing beside each other, arms crossed, watching the chaos unfold.

"So I'm guessing your talk with Randy went well?" Jackie half asked half stated,

"Yup." He nodded, "Got him to come home and everything. How was grocery shopping?"

It was her turn to nod, "Pretty good. I think we got everything. At the least we got stuff to hold us over for a few days and then if we need to you and I can make the shopping trip together."

Eric's smile grew at the suggestion, he liked the sound of that. For a good few seconds the couple just stood there watching the racket get louder and crazier until finally they couldn't take it any longer.

"We need to do something, don't' we?" he asked.

She nodded and gave a simple "Yeah."

The petite brunette then brought her hand to her mouth, placing two fingers near her mouth before blowing out an ear piercing whistle that immediately shut up everyone in the room. A mix of confused and angry eyes turned to stare at both Eric and Jackie.

"Okay, they're all yours." Jackie said with a smile as she patted Eric on the arm,

"Wha…what?" a dumbfounded Eric asked, "I said 'we.'"

"I know." She nodded once more, "I did the whistling and now you do the talking."

And after that quick explanation Jackie gave him a gentle shove, encouraging him to add in his part. Eric's eyes scanned the room and when he saw the crowd staring at him he abruptly became nervous but then he remembered these people were his friends, his family and he wanted to help them.

He cleared his throat and uncrossed his arms, hoping he would sound somewhat like his father in his next statement, "Okay guys, I don't think this is working. You all need to solve your problems but separately not over each other. Donna, Randy why don't you guys go to the living room and you can discuss…whatever you need to discuss."

Randy looked at Donna, "Sure we'll go, right Donna?"

"Right." Donna nodded before heading towards the steps still feeling a bit reluctant.

Eric and Randy exchanged a nod before the couple exited the room and Eric turned back to the group.

"Hyde, Angela." He began, "Why don't you guys go check in on Mom?"

"Alright." Hyde nodded, interested to see for himself if his adopted parents really were awake already. He started to follow Angela but stopped when he got close to Eric, "Forman you…" he stopped himself from asking if he wanted him to take over when he saw that his friend really did have this under control and instead settled for a pat on the shoulder before disappearing with Angela to the top level of the house.

The grade school teacher moved his attention to the next couple, "Laurie, why don't you and Fez go talk in Hyde's room. I'm sure he won't mind."

Not saying a word, in English or any other language, Fez marched himself into the back room. Meanwhile Laurie stayed behind looking up at her younger brother with big doe eyes.

"You mean you're sending me in there by myself?" she asked in a small voice, "You're not gonna help me, baby brother?"

He folded his arms over his chest, "Did you help me with the goat you locked me up with at the county fair, big sister?"

"Ugh, fine." Laurie groaned as she turned on her heel.

"Hey Laurie," Eric called, getting his sister to turn back around, "You can do this."

Though the response he got from his sister was an annoyed expression he could still detect the small twitch at the corner of her mouth before she left into Hyde's little room.

"What about us?" Kelso asked, as he noticed he and his family seemed to have been forgotten.

Knowing that Kelso and Brooke's argument really wasn't too big and from the looks of it Kelso had already forgotten about it, Eric shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. You guys could stay in here incase Laurie needs help with Fez…and you know a new _Tom and Jerry_ episode is starting."

"Alright!"

"Yay!"

Brooke smiled as she watched her excited family hop onto the couch by jumping over the back—something she wouldn't have let go at their home but with how long this old couch had lasted she figured one more jump on it wasn't going to break it. She was about to walk over to the stairs so she could help with the groceries when suddenly Betsy began to call out for her.

"Mommy, you too!"

Kelso nodded in agreement as he grinned largely, "Yeah, Mommy! You too."

She never could deny those two adorable faces, and it was even harder when they were both asking for the same thing. And so Brooke looked at Jackie with an apologetics face before settling onto the couch beside her family; however she went around the couch properly and didn't jump over it as her husband had.

Eric and Jackie watched the small family, wearing matching smiled before Jackie decided to break the comfortable silence.

"So it looks like you assigned everyone somewhere to go expect for the two of us." She commented.

Eric grinned, "That is because I was thinking of something else for the two of us."

"Oh?" she asked and he nodded, "Well I actually have something special in mind for you too."

He gulped nervously as he felt the warmth of her small hand on his chest; he tried to keep his voice normal and not high pitched. "Oh yeah?"

"Uh-huh. I want you to come with me upstairs into the kitchen." She started to say in a seductive tone as a wicked smile crept onto her lips, "And help me unpack the groceries."

A chuckle escaped Eric's lips and he raised a finger in the air to point at Jackie, "That's so funny because that's exactly what I was thinking!"

The twosome shared a laugh before they headed up the basement steps to the kitchen so they could put away the newly purchased grocery items together.

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_**Author's Note: **There you have it! Chapter 44 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Will Donna and Randy make up? Will Fez ever start speaking English again? Will Hyde find out the truth about Red and Kitty's fake sleeping? How is Kitty really doing? When will Red take Lucy to buy her new doll? And who did Donna see at the Gas-N-Go? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Quick question! Which conversation would you guys rather see Laurie and Fez's or Donna and Randy's? Or both? I can do both too but if more of you want to see a certain couple more than the other then maybe I'll do a longer scene with them and a shorter, quicker version with the other. You tell me!_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review an dlemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	46. I Win!

_**Disclaimer: **I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note:** Hello everyone! How are you all? Hope you're doing fine and well.. I am so very sorry for not updating this story all last month. Did seriously not realize I had let that whole month pass with no update to this story. Please forgive me. The last month was just a bit crazy with school ending and finals, plus I did also work o and post up quite a few oneshots last month, so hopefully those make up for the lack of updates here. Hopefully too I'll be able to update more times this month! :D Couple of quick notes before the chapter. And I'll try to keep them very quick since I know you're eager to read. First off thank you so very much for all of your wonderful reviews and support each and every one of you are so awesome! Secondly please remember I am not a doctor, still watching House MD but the series did finish—and I'm still in mourning! Thirdly I wanted to give a quick thank you to MistyMountainHop for her suggestion on the video question, thanks Lisa! If you have a video question suggestion please feel free to share! Okay so I think that's about it! So very sorry once again for my lack of updates and Thank you once again to all of you wonderful readers, you make my day! Here's the new chapter! Hope you like, please review and lemme know what you think and as always, Enjoy!_

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"_What's your favorite kind of music?"_

_Kitty scowled lightly as she pondered over the question before replying, "You know, there are so many different kinds of music I don't think I could choose just one as my favorite. I don't even think I know all the different types of music."_

"_Okay, well from the music you do know…what's your favorite type to dance to?" Hyde rephrased his question, hoping she would answer it in this form._

"_Oh, I think that's even harder." Kitty started to say, "Because…"_

_Having a feeling he knew where she was going with this, Hyde spoke up finishing her thought for her. "Because there are so many different kinds of dances." _

"_Exactly." She said with a smile, "There really are all kinds of dances. And sometimes with some dances you have to be listening to a certain kind of music when dancing that kind of dance. After all you can't exactly jitterbug to the kind of music you kids listen to like that...ABCD."_

_Hyde held in a chuckle when he figured out his adopted mother was mixing up ACDC with the alphabet, still he had to agree, "Yeah. That's true."_

"_But let's see…there's disco music that you dance disco dances like The Hustle to. As I'm sure you well remember." She added in a Kitty Forman giggle at the end of that statement._

_Behind the camera Hyde's face dropped as he quickly recalled the dance lesson he had received from Mrs. Forman years ago. It was a nice memory he had with her, of course, but he didn't want any future generations knowing that he had ever actually danced to any ABBA, Bee Gees, or any other disco crap._

"_No I don't." came his unconvincing response._

_Shaking her head while holding in another laugh, Kitty continued, "And there's big band and swing music…that's more of where you dance the jitterbug. Country music is always fun to square dance to…"_

"_Yeah." Hyde agreed with a rather large smirk._

_Kitty scowled as she noticed the almost smile on her second son's face, "Steven, you didn't even go with us to the square dance for my birthday, how could you possibly remember that but not when I taught you…"_

"_Because I still have the image of Forman and Red in their cowboy outfits." Hyde answer, before she could mention the disco part, his amused smile growing, "That's a pretty hard image to get rid of."_

_Not exactly in favor of his behavior, Kitty shook her head again but did have to smile when she thought back to that birthday. Steven was right about the images being hard to forget but while he seemed to be smiling because he thought the two had looked funny Kitty smiled because of how handsome her too boys had looked and at how sweet they had been to her—even if it was because they felt guilty for forgetting her birthday._

"_There's also slow dancing." She suddenly said, getting her mind back on the question, "Red and I always liked putting on a Frank Sinatra record whenever we did any slow dancing."_

_Hyde's smile softened when he noticed the smile and far off look on Kitty's face._

"_Oh and rock and roll is another one of my favorite types of music to listen to."_

"_You listen to rock and roll music?" Hyde asked with a furrowed brow._

"_Of course." She smiled and went on, "Chuck Berry, Roy Orbison, and of course The King Elvis Presley, that hunka burning love."_

_Shaking his head lightly—so as not to move the camera—Hyde couldn't help but smirk at her answer, he really should've known better._

"_I think it's safe to say that I enjoy all the different types of music and can have fun dancing to each of them." Kitty went on her smile fading a bit as she threw in, "Well maybe not _all_ the different types. I'm not the biggest fan of music like The Sex Pistols or Judas Priest as _someone_ thought I would be."_

_This time Hyde had to let out a chuckle as he recalled the little prank he had pulled on her several years back._

"_So if you had to," he started to question once he managed to control his laughter, "which type of music, from the kinds you know of, would you say is your favorite?"_

_Several seconds passed before she finally answered, "Country music."_

"_Seriously?" Hyde asked with a frown—it was a little hard for him to believe that this cheerful, always smiling, woman was a fan of the kind of music whose songs consisted of heartbreak, abandonment, drinking, and death._

"_That's right." Kitty nodded, seeing the confused expression on Hyde's face she could figure out what he was thinking and so she started to explain, "You know Steven, country music doesn't just have depressing songs. There are different kinds of country songs. Most of them are sad and depressing but they tell a story which is always nice. And there are also some very sweet love songs that are nice to slow dance to. And some of the country music songs are more upbeat and fun to just sing and dance around to."_

"_Square dance to?" Hyde asked holding in a chuckle._

_Kitty glared warningly at the camera, "Another word out of you about square dancing and I will personally put you in a flannel shirt, cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat, and take you with me to the nearest square dancing hoedown."_

_Not wanting to test her threat, Hyde quickly closed up his mouth._

_0o0o0o_

Laurie Forman was not a coward. It wasn't in her nature, it wasn't in her blood. Her father was a war hero and her mother was never one who took any crap from anyone either, sure there was her brother who could be considered a wimp but even when push came to shove and the things he cared about were at risk he showed his leadership and bravery. 'Cowardly' was never a word Laurie would have used to describe herself but as she stood in the small room below the basement stairs with the father of her child, she couldn't think of a better word for herself.

Remaining in her spot by the closed bedroom door, she watched him march back and forth between the small area of the cot and old armchair. He was silent but the look on his face showed that his mind was filled with words he wanted to tell—or even shout out—at Laurie. A few times he would turn to her open his mouth but then immediately shut it and go back to pacing. She had mixed feelings each of the three or four times he did this.

First she would feel a bit frighten by the crazed look he was staring at her with along with the possible words she imagined him saying to her, then she would feel relieved when saw him shut his mouth, but when she saw him turn back around she would suddenly wish he had said something. She wanted to say something but she didn't want to be the first one to say something—she didn't know what to say; and yet at the same time she wanted Fez to say something, _anything_, but she also wanted to explain to him everything he needed to know before he said anything.

Finally, she'd had enough and took in a deep breath as she gathered her courage to step away from the closed door and start to talk.

"Fez, before you go all Ricky Ricardo on me again, I just want to say that I…"

"What's her name?" Fez interrupted whatever she was going to say with his question—asked in a tone that let on to how upset he still was.

Slightly confused but more startled by the question Laurie frowned, "What?"

"Our…" he paused, trying to get used to saying these next words, "Our daughter. What's her name?"

"Lucille Jasmine. Lucy." Laurie replied.

The foreigner stared at her with a surprised expression sketched onto his face, "You mean after…"

"Yeah." She nodded before he could finish his question; she then gave a shrug of her shoulders before going on, "I mean, I couldn't remember your last name so her birth certificate says 'Forman' but I did want her to have a piece of you in her name and I remembered you mentioning the name Lucy that night in Kelso's van so…yeah."

"Have you…" Fez started to ask.

She shook her head, "No."

The room became silent as Fez slowly sat himself down on the edge of the aged army cot. Laurie thought about going and sitting bedside him but the realized it might be safer for both of them if she kept her distance a little while longer.

"Why?" he asked, his tone now softer, as he looked up at her.

"That was something you wanted to do. Not me." came her response.

"No," Fez said with a shake of his head as he frowned in return, "why didn't you tell me about her sooner?"

Laurie knew this question was bound to come up but it didn't stop or even slow down the rapid beats her heart began to create when she heard the words being said by the foreign young man. She took a step forward, keeping the space between them but gradually closing in on it, her eyes locked on his as she began the explanation she knew she owed him.

"Fez, I wanted to tell you, when I first found out I was pregnant, really I did." Laurie began to say, trying to make her voice sound as truthful as her words were, "But I couldn't. I didn't have any of your information, I couldn't contact you."

Fez slowly nodded his head, "Oh I see. That is understandable. It is too bad that they have not invented a book that is filled up with people's names and phone numbers and…Oh wait they have! It's called a phonebook!"

Startled by the sudden outburst as Fez's tone changed from sweet and understanding to furious and scary, Laurie erased that step forward she had made by moving back a foot or two. However, her shock didn't last long; she quickly shook off the emotions that were making her feel like a pathetic frightened animal and pulled herself together, becoming—for the most part—the Laurie Forman that Point Place remembered.

"I couldn't look you up in the phonebook." She argued and then rolled her eyes, "What was I supposed to look up, 'Fez'?"

"Yes."

Her brows squished closer together as she heard the serious tone he spoke in, "Seriously? You're under 'Fez' in the phonebook?"

"Yes. F-E-Z. 'Fez.'" The foreigner answered, his voice never changing to a joking one, "I am the first one listed."

"How many 'Fezs' are there?" Laurie asked with a scowl, she still couldn't believe he was actually listed in the book as 'Fez' but now she was finding out there was more than one 'Fez?'

He took a second to recall, "Three."

Laurie's frown deepened when she heard the answer, she was tempted to ask if those other 'Fezs' were people or places or what but she decided to save the question for later when (or if) they had settled things.

"Well I didn't think you would have actually listed yourself as 'Fez' in the phonebook, if I had I would have looked you up and called you. But I didn't."

Still puzzled by why Laurie was so surprised that he was listed as 'Fez' in the phonebook—it was his American name and he was still in America, thanks to her—he frowned slightly until another thought floated into his mind making him even more confused.

"What about Kelso?" he suddenly asked. "You could have looked him up and he could have told me."

She shook her head, her blonde strands of hair shifting over her shoulders, "I wanted to tell you not…Taternuts."

"I can not believe almost all of my friends kept this secret from me." Fez said his gaze down at the ground and his voice sounding hurt and sad until suddenly changing when he lifted his head with an angry, determined look on his face, "Heads will roll!"

"They didn't know either, Fez. Nobody knew. The only person in my family who knew about Lucy was my dad's brother. He was the one who helped us out." She shared more of the details of her story.

Fez's face softened when he looked over at the woman still standing in front of him, "So you have not told Red or Miss. Kitty?"

"No. I actually told them yesterday when I first got here." Laurie informed, not catching Fez's eyes widening with panic, "You…and I guess Kelso, were actually the last ones to find out."

The last sentence went unheard by Fez. He was too busy hearing the first sentence over and over in his mind. Red knew…but then why was Fez still alive? Maybe Miss. Kitty's illness was at the top of Red's list and he had to deal with that before he could kill Fez. So Fez was safe…for now. But all that meant was it was only a matter of time before he and Red recreated a scene out of an Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny cartoon—only this time Bugs' chance of survival was very slim.

"Aye no! Mr. Red knows I have interpregnanted you! I'm going to die!" he cried out sounding very afraid, he gulped and scanned his eyes over the room, "I need to hide. Somewhere no one would ever think I would be…. I know! The vegetable aisle at The Piggly Wiggly!"

Watching the foreigner jump out of his seat, Laurie shook her head and tried to keep him from running off by saying, "Relax Fez, he was more mad at me than he was at you."

"Oh." Fez said a wave of relief washing over him—he even managed a smile.

"Yeah." She nodded before adding, "But that passed and we made up so he's probably more mad at you now."

His smile diminished completely, "Oh."

"Yeah." Laurie repeated in a somber tone, realizing her words probably didn't help all that much.

Silence overcame the tiny room; but it wasn't a comfortable, peaceful silence it was the kind of silence where you could actually feel the tension and hurt. Both parties had something to say and they knew how to phrase their words, they were just having trouble finding the guts to actually come out and say what they needed to say.

At last one of them found their bravery and broke though the room's stillness.

"Are you sure she is mine?"

Calm blue eyes became fiery large in size when the question was heard, "Excuse me?"

"No!" Fez shot out in a firm tone and matching scowl, "No excuse you! Excuse me and answer my question!"

"How can you even ask that question?" Laurie questioned, preparing herself to turn on the waterworks if she had to.

"How can I not ask that question?" he fired back going back to acting like Ricky Ricardo, flaring his arms about in anger but luckily keeping his words in the English language. "When you lived here you were the town whore who was passed around like you were a hot potato! How do I know you did not just choose poor innocent Fez to be the father of your baby so I could help support the two of you. Then my hopes of having a family would be raised only to have you crash them all back down and run off with some Chad or Chaz or Bill just like you did when we got married!"

Laurie felt as if she'd been punched in the stomach by Fez's words; of course they were true but that only seemed to have added to the pain. She wanted to argue about how she wasn't like that anymore and how it had been his fault too for having such high hopes when he married her of all people, but that was in the past and she had to think about the future. Their daughter's future.

"Fez, Lucy is your daughter." She stated firmly as she stepped towards him, "She has your eyes."

Fez was not convinced, "Lots of other kids have brown eyes."

"She loves candy." Laurie tried in a weak, hopeful voice.

"Oh! Then that means she really must be mine!" He declared with false enthusiasm, "It must also mean that that I have a million other children who also love candy!"

An angry glare appeared on Laurie's face. She was tired of this! Here she was trying to be nice, trying to give him some reasonable answers and he kept shooting them down! Was it really that horrible to find out that he had a daughter with her?

Crossing her arms over her chest, she really wasn't happy about sharing this piece of information, she began to share a piece of evidence that she was sure would stop anymore of his doubt about Lucy not being his, "You were the last man I slept with." She said in a bored and unpersuasive tone.

"Oh Laurie," Fez said while shaking his head with pity, "That is weak. The candy one was more believable."

"I'm serious, Fez. As hard as it is to believe it's true." Laurie elaborated more of the story as she closed up the space between them and took a seat beside him on the folding bed, "When you left after we last slept together, after you told me about my mom's cancer, I kinda fell into this slump. I almost came home but I didn't think I would be able to handle all the hospitals and cancer stuff so I stayed away and to myself." She admitted for the first time out loud.

"Then weeks later when I finally snapped out of it, I found out I was pregnant. And after that…well guys aren't exactly lining up for you when you're walking around looking like you swallowed a basketball." She said halfheartedly before repeating in a stronger voice, "Lucy is your daughter. I'd tell you we could get a blood test but I don't want to put Lucy through that. And if that test is the only thing that will make you believe me, if you actually want to put a four year old through that, then maybe we're better off without you."

Despite the hard words and voice Laurie was speaking in the foreign man found himself grinning as he watched her. She really wasn't the same Laurie he knew all those years ago—though it was nice to see that she still had some of that old Laurie in there—she wasn't her main concern and neither was having sex. She had a new number one concern, her daughter. Their daughter.

Catching the grin on his face made Laurie scowl with disgust.

"Wipe that dumb grin off your face." She ordered

Fez's smile shrank just a few centimeters, "I'm sorry I said those things before, you're not a whore…anymore. But you still are a very, very hot potato. And I bet you looked very sexy with your basketball belly."

Laurie looked at him as she laughed lightly and that same smile stayed in place once her laughter had died down.

"I do still wish you would have told me about Lucy sooner." He added.

She released a sigh, "Fez…"

"So that I could have been there to help you and you wouldn't have had to do it all alone." Fez finished in a most sincere sounding voice.

The smile from before reappeared on Laurie's face as she heard his words. Never had she thought that she would hear that as a reason for Fez wishing he knew about Lucy sooner. She always knew Fez was a lot different than the guys she had dated before but she had forgotten how sweet he was too.

"What's she like?" the question was asked in a small, curious tone.

Knowing exactly who he was asking about, Laurie's smile stretched form ear to ear at the thought for their little girl, "She's amazing, Fez. I mean I know parents always go on and on about how great their kids are but we seriously made one awesome kid." Fez smiled, eager to hear more about Lucy and Laurie wasted no time in sharing, "She's beautiful and smart—which of course she got from me—she's so funny too. And she loves to dance and eat candy, you should see her do both at the same time." She ended with a laugh.

Grinning proudly, Fez nodded his head "Ah just like her old man."

Laurie's grin showed no signs of fading. She was always more than happy to talk and rave on about Lucy but being able to tell Lucy's father about her and hearing him, for the first time, say she was his daughter…she had to keep herself together and not let any happy tears forming in her eyes slip down her face.

"Do you have a picture of her?" he asked, sounding almost nervous, "So I can see her."

"No." Laurie shook her head and when Fez's face dropped in disappointment she quickly went on, "But I do have something even better. Lucy is upstairs in my parents' room with them. Do you wanna go meet her?"

Fez's brown eyes lit up with excitement, "Really?"

"Well yeah." She replied scoffing slightly while rolling her own eyes, "Besides coming to see Mom, you're the reason I came. So Lucy could meet you and you could meet her."

"Okay." He wasted no time in answering with a large grin.

Laurie smiled and nodded, echoing his word, "Okay."

The pair stood up from the old army bed and began their way to the room's exit. They took their steps, staying side by side until they suddenly got a lot closer to the room's door and Laurie began to take the lead—but not by her choice. By the time she noticed that she no longer had Fez next to her she had her hand on the doorknob and he was two or three feet behind her, a look of uncertainty on his face while he nervously played with his fingers.

"Aren't you coming?" she questioned, her hand still holding onto the handle on the door.

"Yes. No. I mean…" the anxious man stumbled over his words, "What if you bring Lucy in here instead. That way it is more private and there is no big audience. So she won't be scared."

The blonde titled her head and crossed her arms over her chest, "You're still scared of Daddy, aren't you?"

Part of Fez wanted to argue and deny it while another part of him wanted to admit that it was the truth but all that came out was a small whimper that made Laurie laugh lightly.

"Okay." She agreed with a smile, "I'll be right back."

Nodding his head Fez watched as she opened the door and began to leave the room. Then suddenly a thought crossed his mind and he knew he couldn't let her leave without finding out the answer to the new question that had formed in his brain.

"Laurie, wait!" he called out, "I just have one more very important question to ask you."

She spun herself around so that she could be facing him.

"What's Lucy's favorite kind of candy?"

0o0o0o

"I don't know how we ended up with six different boxes of cereal." Jackie said frowning slightly, while holding a box of _Trix_ cereal in her left hand and a box of _Froot-Loops_ in her right with her eyes staring into the brown paper sack filled with four other sugar breakfast cereals.

Eric chuckled from his spot next to her, "Hey you took a Kelso with you, you should be happy you didn't come home with the whole cereal aisle."

"That's true." She agreed while nodding her head and placing the two boxes on the kitchen table with the rest of the groceries.

The surface of the round white table was covered with newly purchased items, some still in the paper bag some already loose and scattered on the table top. Jackie stared at the items…there couldn't have been this many things before, they hadn't filled up the cart and they'd only left with four filled paper sacks…although thinking back to the ending price on the receipt it actually made more sense. Glancing over at Eric, she noticed that he looked just as lost as she felt. There were just so many items and not a marked starting pointing!

All of a sudden the petite brunette got an idea.

"Here." She said pulling Eric out of his thoughts by actually pulling on his arm, "Help me spilt up the groceries by what goes in the fridge and what doesn't. And then you put away the things that go in the fridge and the deep freeze in the basement and I'll take care of the shelves and cabinets.

It sounded like a good plan and so Eric gave a nod and shrugged his shoulder, "Okay."

With that said the pair went to work and began splitting up the groceries into two different groups so it would be easier to put them in their respective areas. They worked in a comfortable silence as Eric grabbed a block of cheese and Jackie grabbed a box of cereal, then Eric grabbed the carton of milk and Jackie grabbed another box of cereal, Eric took hold of the box of butter and Jackie took another box of cereal. Everything was going smoothly until the last bag was unpacked and Eric reached for the jar of peanut butter.

"What are you doing?" Jackie immediately asked when she caught his actions.

Feeling a bit startled by being ask the question, Eric spoke in a cautious tone as he answered, "Helping you put away groceries…"

"But you're putting away the things that go in the fridge." She said as if she were reminding him.

Eric was even more confused "Yeeaahh….and?"

She scowled, "And you took the peanut butter. Why?" she asked her eyes demanding an answer.

"Because peanut butter goes in the fridge." He replied as if it were obvious—he still didn't understand why she had stopped him and started asking all these weird questions.

Jackie shook her head, "Uh no, it doesn't."

"Uh yeah, it does."

"Eric, nobody puts peanut butter in the fridge." She argued.

His eyes widened a bit and he lifted an open palm to his chest, "I do!"

"Which further proves my point." She said and Eric could swear he saw a smile on her face.

"Okay, okay, Little Miss. Know It All," he began to say as he picked up the jar from the table, "if it doesn't go in the refrigerator, where does the peanut butter go?"

"In the cupboards with the rest of the canned food." Jackie replied, arms crossed over her chest and her chin lifted high in an almighty fashion.

"Ah, you have just proved yourself wrong." Eric commented with a waving index finger; that only appeared to confuse Jackie even more and so he began to enlighten her, "You said _canned_ food and peanut butter as you can see is not in a can."

Rolling her eyes at the jar Eric had lifted up to her face, Jackie frowned with annoyance, "So it's in a jar. It's the same thing."

Eric smirked, clearly enjoying this little squabble between the two of them. It wasn't a heated argument—and he doubted it would turn into one—it was a lighthearted kind of argument and teasing, like they used to do in high school. She was keeping him on his toes and he was doing the same to her. And it was a lot of fun.

"Oh how incorrect you are Miss. Burkhart." He said, his smirk stretching into a smile, "A can once opened can not be closed again so there's no point in keeping it, you throw it away. A jar on the other, you can open up, use, and when you're doing using it you can close it up, so instead of throwing it out—like you do a can—you can save and store it somewhere where its contents will remain fresh. Like the fridge."

Despite the speech he'd given Jackie still looked incredulous, and even yanked the jar out of Eric's hands and into her own before speaking, "Eric, forget it. I'm not letting you ruin a perfectly good jar of peanut butter by putting it in the fridge." She headed towards the cabinet to put the item away, "What moron made you think it belonged in there anyways? Michael or Fez?"

"Neither." came Eric's soft response, "It was my mom."

Jackie turned herself around, away from the cabinets and towards Eric the second she heard his words. He was still standing there with the back of his head to her, so he couldn't see that the smile she wore previously had diminished.

"She would always keep the peanut butter in the fridge…for as long as I can remember." He continued, lowering his head gravely, "I just thought with so many other things changing…it would be nice if we left some things, in Mom's kitchen at least, the same."

"Oh Eric," she started to say sounding sympathetic for those first two words before swiftly changing it with a roll of her eyes, "_Please_. I've been living with your parents for almost two years now and your mom has never put the peanut butter in the refrigerator."

Still looking ahead and not at the woman behind him, Eric felt his face fall. How could he have forgotten about her living with his folks? _Darn it!_ And he almost had her too, he was sure of it!

He spun himself around, accepting his defeat, "Okay, fine. But if you didn't live here and you didn't know that, you would have fallen for it right?"—well he accepted _most_ of his defeat.

Instead of answering his question with her words, Jackie shot him a look that told him how pathetic she thought he was being. That same look made Eric's small grin shrink even more when he realized he was being pathetic…using the dying mom card? That was pretty bad. It had him feeling bad afterwards too, but he remained determined to get the jar of peanut butter in the fridge.

"Come on Jackie, just let me put the peanut butter in the fridge, it's not gonna hurt it." Eric said, using a mock assuring tone when saying the last part of his statement, "I put the peanut butter in the fridge at my place in Seattle."

Taking a step towards him, peanut butter in one hand, "Well this isn't rainy, coffee filled, refrigerated peanut butter Seattle. And this isn't your place."

"Well it isn't your place either." He shot back.

As soon as Eric said the words he regretted them. They weren't really true because if you thought about it this house was more of her place than his since she'd been living there for the past two years. But then again he had lived there a total of eighteen years before Jackie had even thought of moving in. So technically the house could be thought of as both their places…though_ technically_ it was neither of theirs and was his parents. Either way you looked at it, Eric was still surprised when Jackie fired back at him instead of taking the comment to heart and being hurt or offended by it.

"But_ I_ was the one who went to the store and bought it."

"Because_ I_ asked you to get it so that I could make you one of my spectacular peanut butter and jelly sandwiches." reminded Eric.

"Yeah," she said tilting her head a bit, "I'm beginning to wonder just how spectacular that sandwich of yours really is if you use cold peanut butter to make it. Next you're gonna tell me to put the bread in the fridge too."

Eric frowned at the brunette, "Come on, Jackie, that's just crazy. I mean maybe the freezer, if we didn't plan on using it right away."

An unamused Jackie stared back at Eric, "You're just saying that to get me mad aren't you?"

"If I say yes, can we stick the peanut butter in the fridge?" he asked in a hopeful tone of voice.

"Okay look," she began to say, getting ready to make him an offer, "if you can give me one good—and I mean _good_—reason to keep the peanut butter in the fridge then I'll think about saying 'yes.'" She ended her offer with a smile, knowing that if he could resist the offer he won't be able to resist her smile.

Eagerly nodding his head, Eric agreed—this was easy, he could do this!

"Okay, okay…" he paused, maybe it was tad bit hard, suddenly getting an idea he clapped his hands together before speaking, "Okay, well, if you keep the peanut butter in the fridge it helps keep it fresh."

Jackie resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she spoke, "I said a good reason not a dumb one."

"Wha…what? That's totally a good reason! It keeps the peanut butter fresh, right there a perfectly good reason!" Eric protested sounding outraged.

"No, it's not." She shook her head, "Peanut butter doesn't need to be kept fresh, it's _peanut butter_."

"Well my sandwiches call for fresh, _refrigerated_ peanut butter…" he started to say before getting interrupted.

"It just doesn't make any sense." Began Jackie's interjection, "If you keep the peanut butter in the fridge then when you need to use it, it'll be too hard to spread out on the bread."

Blinking his eyes several times at Jackie, he replied, "Jackie, it's peanut butter not ice cream." There was a quick pause as he realized what point she had been trying to make; it was a good one but he had an even better one, "I mean…yeah, it'll probably get a little stiff but you just need to wait a minute or two before you use it."

"Eric, if I take out the peanut butter it's because I want to make a sandwich at that moment." She argued back, "Not in a minute or two."

"But you can still get started on your sandwich while you wait for the peanut butter to thaw out." Eric explained to her though it looked like Jackie was having none of it, "You could start with the jelly side of your sandwich…"

"No you can't." Jackie said before Eric could finish his thought.

Perplexed he raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why not?"

"Because," she said, her tone already sounding like this piece of information was a very well known fact, "you have to spread out the peanut butter before you can spread out the jelly."

Eric scowled, "Oh. You're one of_ those_ people." He practically spat out.

"Yes I am." She nodded before letting her brows knit into her own despising scowl "And I bet you're one of those weird freaks that spread out the jelly before the peanut butter, aren't you?"

"As a matter of fact, I am." He answered a little too proudly.

With both perfectly shaped eyebrows raised up an inch or two, Jackie stared at Eric for several seconds before shaking her head, "Well that's it."

"That's it?" Eric repeated in question form, "As in, 'that's it,' you give up and the peanut butter can go in the fridge?"

"No." she wasted little time in answering, "That's it as is 'that's it,' I'm never trying one of your peanut butter and jelly sandwiches."

"What? Why not?" he asked in an outburst.

She crossed her arms over her chest—still holding the peanut butter jar in her right hand—before explaining, "Because you obviously don't know how to make one. You're not even making one yet and already you're doing it all wrong!"

"Says the woman who refused to touch an egg because it came out of a chicken's butt." Eric was swift to remind.

"I know how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich." Jackie declared with a slight glare, "And none of the ingredients used to make one comes out of anything's butt."

Eric nodded, "Okay then."

"Okay then?" Jackie repeated—and much like Eric made the words sound like a question, "Okay then, as in 'okay then' you give up and I win?" she asked almost sounding sad and disappointed.

Of course Eric noticed her tone of voice but didn't make any comment on it because his mind was set on something else. Proving Jackie Burkhart wrong.

"No. Okay then as in 'okay then,' I'm going to show you that I can make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. And not just a regular peanut butter and jelly sandwich but _one heck_ of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

After making his statement Eric began to ransack the pile of items in search of the needed ingredients for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, completely ignoring the strange, baffled looks he was getting from Jackie. First he found the loaf of bread and then the new jar of grape jelly. He took both items with him to the counter space near the stove and put them down before opening the drawer and pulling out a single butter knife. His green eyes scanned over his work space and he quickly recognized he was missing a very important piece!

Eric turned himself towards Jackie, who was still appeared confused, and reached out for the jar in her hand.

"Excuse me, I need this for a moment." He said but waited of no reply and instead snatched the container right out of Jackie's grasp.

Shaking herself out of her daze, she scowled and asked "Eric, what are you doing? We're supposed to be unpacking the groceries and putting them away, not unpacking them and eating them!"

"We'll put them away in a minute," he said, looking concentrated on creating his masterwork, "Hold on a second."

Jackie watched as Eric unscrewed the lid to the jar of jelly and broke the seal, he was going to start with the jelly side of the sandwich first! Her eyes widened and she reached over trying to stop him.

"Eric wait! That's not the way…at least…" she tried to say while at the same time trying to grab the knife and jar away from Eric.

But it was too late and Eric had already dipped the utensil in the jelly, but this didn't stop Jackie Burkhart and she only tried harder to get the knife and now the slice of bread in Eric's hands out of his grasp.

"Ah ah!" he declared while stepping farther away from her, he then moved the jelly covered knife over the first slice of bread "Aww!" he said as if spreading out the jelly before the peanut butter was the greatest feeling in the world.

"You just ruined what could have been a perfectly good sandwich." Jackie informed.

Keeping his attention on his sandwich making, Eric retorted with, "No, I think you mean I kept a perfect sandwich from becoming a ruined one."

For several few seconds Jackie stood there watching Eric prepare the sandwich in front of her; her scowl getting deeper and deeper the longer she watched him. She had tried a handful of times to get him to make the sandwich her way—the 'correct' way—but just as the last time she was unsuccessful. Finally, Eric finished spreading the peanut butter on the second slice of bread and put the dirty knife to the side on a folded paper towel before taking hold of the jelly covered bread slice and putting it on top of the peanut butter one. He grinned pompously at this masterpiece.

"Here you are." He said lifting the sandwich up to Jackie.

The brunette's face squished up in disgust, "I'm not eating that."

"What?" questioned Eric before a thought dawned on him, "Wait a minute. Don't tell me you're one of those weird freaks" he copied her words from earlier, "who have to have the peanut butter slice on top."

Catching onto his mocking Jackie decided that two could play the game and she proudly replied, "As a matter of fact, I am."

He let out a small, quick, frustrated sigh and then flipped the sandwich over so that the peanut butter side was up on top.

"Okay, now try it."

She shook her head again, "No. I already had lunch with Brooke and Betsy, thank you very much."

"Fine then this will be a snack." Eric said determined to get her to take at least one bite of his sandwich, "Here, I'll even share it with you."

Jackie watched as Eric grabbed the knife and split the sandwich in half making into two triangular shapes. He then moved one of the prices closer towards her as if she were a small child that he was trying to make eat their vegetables.

"I'm still not eating that." She declared, moving her head back and away from her half of the sandwich.

However, he wasn't giving up and continued to press on, "Come on, Jackie."

"No."

"Jackie."

This time Jackie didn't respond with her words and instead shut her mouth close and pressed her lips tightly together, giving Eric the message that she wouldn't be taking even the tiniest bite of his sandwich. Her actions stumped Eric at first, until he was struck with a sudden idea he knew was sure to work.

"You know Jackie," he started to say, his eyes shifting downwards to her feet, "those shoes really don't go with that outfit."

"Ah!" Jackie exclaimed dropping her jaw and giving Eric the perfect opportunity to stick the other half of the sandwich in her mouth.

It was an opportunity he did not let pass by. Hurriedly he stuffed the sandwich into Jackie's open mouth, half expecting her to spit it back at him, but she didn't. Her face showed her surprise and shock but just as she got ready to do a sandwich spit take she got a taste of the wrongly made food in her mouth—the first homemade thing she'd had in days—and realized it wasn't that wrong! It actually tasted right and really, really good.

Carefully she brought her hand up to grab the sandwich as she took a bite and began to chew and flavor the dish.

"So?" Eric asked eagerly, "What do you think?"

Jackie shrugged her shoulders and swallowed, "It's not bad."

"I told you!" he happily reminded with a large grin.

"I didn't say it was good either." She muttered though her actions of taking a second bite contradicted with her words. Eric's grin grew as he watched her, waiting for her to finish with her second bite so she could continue, "It is pretty good though. But I still think it would taste better if it was made the right way. Don't worry though, I'll show you the right way by making a sandwich my way and that way you can tell the difference."

A worried expression crossed Eric face, "Um Jackie, I…I think I'll take your word on that." He began, "After all I already got food poisoning once from Chicken Pinciotti, don't wanna get it again from a Burkhart PB and J."

"Whatever." Jackie replied going back to Zen for a split second before a smile split onto her lips, "You know, this really is one heck of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich Eric, just like you said."

He smiled and nodded, "Thanks."

"And you know what the best part is?" she asked.

"What?"

"The peanut butter wasn't refrigerated so that means its gets to stay out of the fridge. I win!" Jackie exclaimed happily before grabbing the jar of peanut butter and triumphantly striding over to the cabinets to put it in its rightful place.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **And that would be Chapter 45 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Who did Laurie name Lucy after? How will Fez and Lucy's meeting go? Is Donna and Randy's wedding still on? Are Red and Kitty still fake sleeping? Will we ever find out who Donna saw at the Gas-N-Go? And what will they do with all those boxes of cereal? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Quick message! Sorry fi the chapter wasn't the greatest. The first half was written just days after the House finale and I was still crying all over the place, and then the second half of the chapter was added in for mostly laughs. Next chapter we will get the Donna and Randy scene but Laurie and Fez got just a few more votes so I decided to do theirs first and I was going to do the second half with Donna and Randy but I thought you all might be missing some JE interaction and may want a fun Jackie and Eric scene. Hopefully I was right :D_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	47. Thank You

_**Disclaimer: **I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **Hello Everyone! How are you all? Hope you're all doing well! I'm so very sorry for taking so long to update. I really did try to update last week and even on Sunday but took some mini-vacations that kinda threw everything off. So very sorry once again! Hope you all can forgive me! It could've been worse could've waited till next month to update again, right? Hopefully by next month though I can get back to updating on Sundays. Think that was easier no? Or do you guys like Wednesdays better? Let me know! Couple of little notes. Firs off please remember I am not a doctor, a nurse, or anything else in the medical field, still watching House MD though…actually have it on right now :P Second note I'm sorry that this chapter is a little short—just a tad—I'll try to make up for it in the next one. Also must apologize if there are any errors or typos. I did reread it but I'm a mess right now feeling sick and feeling like an emotional mess I don't think I did a all too great job on my editing. Third note, there is a slight tissue warning towards the end, not even sure if you'll need it or not. I teared up writing but like I said I'm in an emotional state right now so the littlest things have been setting me off lol And fourth and final little note just wanted to say a great big thank you to all you wonderful readers and awesome reviewers! You guys are awesome! And are seriously the reason why I continue to write for this story! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Okay now because I've been up all night and just took some medicine I'm gonna see if I can take a little morning nap :D Hope you all like this chapter! Please review if you can and as always Enjoy!_

* * *

_Steven Hyde sat in the piano bench that he'd become more familiar with in this past day than he had in the five plus years he'd actually been living at The Forman House. _

_He had suggested to Kitty that they move back into the living room after she'd answered his previous question, reminding her that the living room was where they had planned on the video being filmed in the beginning and most of the video already on tape was in the living room. Truth was he knew Jackie would be returning from the task she'd gone off to complete soon and he was hoping that moving into the living room would give the video a few more Jackie free minutes._

"_What are some of the things you would want to see your kids do in their lives?" he asked a question that he recalled being on the rough draft of his and Jackie's list._

_Kitty smiled as she sat back in her spot in the middle of the yellow sofa, "There are many, many things that I would love to see all of you kids do in your lives." She answered but paused as her grin shrunk a tad, "Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to see all of them. Or even most of them for that matter." _

_A sudden twinge filled with guilt hit Hyde, making him wish that he had asked a different question instead. Maybe that was why this question had been on the rough draft and not the final copy._

"_But that's okay." Kitty went on, slightly surprising Hyde, "Because I would rather it be that I couldn't see those things happen because I wouldn't be there than it be that I couldn't see those things happen because you kids wouldn't be there."_

_Hyde thought that was such a Kitty Forman response—especially the part with her including all of them and not just her biologic children—he had to shake his head as he smiled lightly; he then had another very similar question enter into his mind._

"_Are there any specific things that you wish any of us would do in or with our lives?"_

_She pressed her lips together, thinking over her answer before nodding her head up and down, "Yes."_

_He sat patiently, awaiting the longer explanation that he knew was coming._

"_I wish that each of you are able to find and be successful in your lives. Now I don't mean the fancy schmancy millionaire kind of success, although I'm sure that would be fun. I mean the kind of success that makes your family proud to be part of your family, the kind that makes you wake up every morning feel proud of yourself. The kind of success that makes you happy." She explained, eyes on the camera, "I hope you all are able to find that someone or that something or that some place that brings you happiness. Because out of all the things I wish for you, I wish….I _want_ you kids to be happy." _

_Another classic Kitty Forman reply Hyde thought as he smirked back at the smile she was flashing for the camera._

"But."_ Kitty continued with another 'but.' "If you're looking for more specific details, wishes, wants, and directions…wait right here."_

_Behind the camera Hyde frowned with puzzlement but continued to record his adopted mother stand up from the sofa and make her way up the two living room steps before disappearing into Red's den. She was in there for quite a few minutes, the sound of drawers opening and closing being documented by the camcorder._

_At last she emerged from the small back room entering the living space with an arm full of what looked like those black and white composition books that were used in school_

"_What's that?" Hyde questioned still frowning._

_Kitty neared the camera and placed her stack of notebooks on the coffee table before sitting down in her place on the sofa. Hyde shifted the camera lens downwards getting a good shot of the pile and his eyes widened some—there had to be at least fifteen books there._

_She placed her palms on the journal on the top of the stack, "This is…well during the first few months after my diagnosis while I was sitting there getting some of the treatment I started to make a few lists. A list of places I wanted to see, a list of books I wanted to read, a list of groceries I needed to pick up on the way home. And a list of things I want you kids to do in your lifetime. Things I may not be able to be here to make sure you do."_

_Hyde could feel his face dropping as she continued on._

"_I've made a list for each of you and wrote them down in these composition books." She explained and then took the first notebook handing it to Hyde, "This one is yours."_

_Not knowing what else to do, he grabbed the book and quickly flipped through it. It was filled with Kitty's elegant hand writing and it didn't look like there was one empty page in there._

_Seeing the uncertainty in her second son's face, Kitty decided to reassure him a bit, "Steven, honey, if it makes you feel any better I filled up three of those notebooks when I wrote down my list for Laurie."_

_Hyde chuckled at both her words and her actions. Though he hadn't seen these book length lists before, now that he seen them he realized he should have seen it coming. It was just like Kitty to prepare a way for her to look after them when the time came that she was no longer there. _

_Kitty smiled as she folded her hands in her lap, "A mother can never be too careful."_

_0o0o0o_

"So…"

"So…" Donna repeated not two seconds after Randy.

The couple was in the living room—the room they'd been 'assigned' to by Eric—sitting awkwardly on the yellow sofa. Though they were sitting beside each other, only a small gap between them, they felt miles apart. It was as if they were strangers forced to sit next to each other and communicate.

"Anything new happening with you?" Randy questioned, trying his hand at small talk.

Donna didn't appreciate the gesture or at least not the question he'd chosen as his opening question. She stared back at him with a half lidded stare.

"Oh right. I guess not." He said his eyes moving onto his clasped hands in front of him.

"Yeah. Nothing new really going on over here." She said deciding that this weak attempt of conversation was better than no conversation at all; she looked over at him, "What about you? Anything new happening with you…anything I'd want to know about.'

A light chuckle escaped Randy's lips before he spoke, "Nah. Pretty much the same old same." He paused for several soundless seconds and then looked up at her, "I've missed you."

She swallowed, "I've missed you too."

"Why didn't you call me?" Randy asked, not being able to hold in that question that had been running through his mind from the beginning, any longer. He needed to know the answer. "I left you the number of where I'd be, but you never called."

Donna stared back at Randy, first looking surprised by his question but before long a frown had made its way to her forehead "You never called me either. You knew the number of the place that I was at. Why didn't you ever call me?"

Randy sat there not knowing how to respond. He definitely hadn't been expecting that type of response from Donna. However, the more he thought about it, thought of what to say to that, the more he realized she was actually making a lot of sense and had a very valid point.

"You're right." He said with a nod of his head, "I should have called you. Just liked you should have called me. But neither of us did so how about we call each other now?"

"What?" the blonde woman asked, obviously not sure where he was going with this.

Randy on the other hand knew exactly what he was doing and seemed very excited about it. He swiftly tried to explain to her his plan, wishing that she would understand his idea, be on board with it, and that they would be able to accomplish what he was hoping they would.

"Yeah, right here. Right now. We'll call each other up on the phone and have that phone conversation that we should have had sooner." He eagerly shared with Donna though it only seemed to confuse her even more.

"How are we going to do that?" she asked before pointing out, "The Formans only have one line."

He thought over this obstacle and tried to find a solution and way around it. Mere seconds passed before Randy realized this was just a small speed bump and not a mountain that Donna seemed to have thought it would be.

"Okay, then we won't use real phones. We'll just make our own!" his tone of voice made it sound like it would be so simple.

The journalist's scowl deepened, "Out of what? Two paper cups and a piece of string?"

"No." Randy replied with a shy smile on his lips, "Something more along the lines of this."

Randy then took her right hand in both of his and though Donna was confused by the actions she also could help but feel a sense of warmth and comfortableness by the simple hand holding. With her hand still in his hold, he then pushed her three middle fingers so that they were touching her palm and only her pinkie and thumb were up in the air. Carefully he lifted up that same hand so that it was at the side of Donna's face, her thumb near her ear and her pinkie close to her lips, making it look like she was on the phone.

"Ta da!" he said as he moved his hands away from her, a happy grin plastered on his face, causing Donna to fight back her own, "Now since you already have your phone in your hand, why don't you call me?"

"No!" Donna argued, feeling angry about having been tricked—yet she hadn't destroyed her 'phone.'

He smirked, "I promise, I'll pick up."

"Fine." She grumbled grudgingly before slowly moving her 'phone' back to her ear; she let out a sigh before speaking, "Hi Randy…"

Before she could say more Randy quickly stepped in, interrupting her from whatever she was going to say next, "Wait, wait, wait! You have to do the rings of the phone."

The blonde scowled, "I'm not doing any ringing sounds, especially since you're sitting right there staring right back at me!"

"Alright, fine." Randy agreed almost too quickly before turning himself around so that he was now staring out the living room window by the piano organ and giving his back to Donna, "Okay now go." He instructed, never looking behind himself.

Donna had to hold in a laugh but allowed her smile to break out as she brought the 'receiver' back up to its spot near her ear, "Ring, ring, ring." There was no answer yet so she made the noises again, "Ring, ring, ring." Still nothing. She made the sounds again, this time sounding more aggravated than before, "Ring, ring, ring." There was no answer once again and her patience was now wearing thin, "Why aren't you answering?"

With his eyes remaining straight ahead he replied, "I can't answer on the first few rings. It'll make me seem desperate."

Not a fan of his answer, Donna reached over and grabbed a lock of his soft, smooth hair.

"Answer the phone, you dillhole." She ordered, pulling his head back towards herself.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Okay! Okay!" he agreed quickly, desperately wanting the pain to stop; Donna released him as soon as she heard his words. While he made his right hand into a receiver that matched Donna's he moved his left hand up to the back of his head to rub the sore area, "Randy speaking."

Donna smiled faintly, "Hi Randy."

"Hi," he retorted and then frowned, "I'm sorry who is this again?"

"I'm hanging up." Donna warned, her smile now completely gone.

"I'm joking, I'm joking!" he quickly said trying to keep her from disconnecting their 'call' "Here lemme start again." He cleared his throat, "Hi Donna! How are you? I wasn't expecting to hear from you."

Donna shrugged nonchalantly though her mind already had an idea planned, "Yeah well, you did tell me to call you. Remember, you said there was something you wanted to tell me."

"Oh no." Randy shook his head, having quickly caught onto what she was trying to do, "I think you got confused. I told you to call me because you said _you_ had something to tell _me_. Remember?"

Not wanting to be the one to do all the talking first, especially since she did make the 'phone call,' Donna shook her head, "No. Goodbye Randy."

"No, no, wait….Don't…You hung up didn't you?" when he didn't get an answer Randy turned his head to find the sight of Donna off her 'phone,' both arms crossed over her chest, while wearing an upset frown. He sighed and then turned his whole self around, "Okay, maybe the whole phone thing wasn't the greatest idea. But we don't need those phones. We just need to talk. About us. If there is still an 'us.'" He paused, as if afraid to ask the next question "Is there still an 'us?'"

"I hope so." came Donna's soft response.

Randy nodded, "I do too."

A wave of silence fell upon the twosome. Both were too stubborn to say even the first word. However after giving it much thought, reminding himself that Donna had been the one to 'call' him minutes ago, and remembering Eric's words about Donna being old fashion in her own way, Randy took the bold move of speaking first, this time not even trying to beat behind the bush.

"Look Donna, I'm sorry I acted the way I did…but when I saw your reaction to Jackie and Eric kissing I thought you were jealous and that made me jealous. And a little afraid." He explained in a tone that told Donna he was speaking straight from the heart. "I was afraid you were still in love with Eric."

"Randy, I love you, not Eric." She tried to tell him again, hoping this time he would understand.

"That's not completely true, Donna." Randy started to say, "Yes, you love me but you also love Eric."

"No, I don't." she replied sounding very defensive.

Her tone of voice made Randy smirk as he went on, "Yes, you do. And that's alright with me because I know you don't love him the same way you love me." He shared with her, "You love him because he was your first love. He was a big part of your life when you were growing up. Even now he's still a pretty big part in your life. And you know it wasn't until just recently I realized how true that old saying is, you never really do get over your first love."

Donna took a few seconds to take in all that Randy had just said. It made a lot of sense and she found herself agreeing with what he said but there was something that made her curious and she had to ask, "So you still love your first girlfriend? Even though she died in that accident?"

"Well maybe not exactly _love_ but she does hold a special place in my heart." He informed and then smirked a handsome smirk as he scooted an inch closer to her, "But you're the one who holds my heart."

The sound of Donna's light laughter filled Randy's ears and made his smirk double in size; he had to hold back the urge to put an arm around her shoulders.

She turned her head to look at him, her own smile playing on her lips, "You really figured all this out just today?"

"Yeah." He nodded, "Well I did have a little help."

"From who?" she asked inquisitively.

"Eric."

Donna's eyebrows knotted together at the sound of her ex-boyfriend's name, "_Eric?_"

"Yeah, we met up and talked about all this a little while ago." Randy informed in a casual manner.

"Eric." Donna repeated still shocked by the answer, "Eric. My ex-boyfriend met up with _you_ my current boyfriend to talk about me his ex-girlfriend and your current girlfriend?"

"Yeah." Randy nodded and then frowned a bit, "It sounds even weirder when you say it."

Trying not to look or sound too upset, Donna had to know what exactly had gone on during this little meeting, "So what you guys just got together to talk about me?"

"Yeah, pretty much. I mean we didn't just talk about you. We…well we talked about the stuff I just told you. He was actually the one who helped convince me to come back over here to talk to you. The whole meeting was sort of his idea."

There was a twitch at corner of Donna's mouth when she heard this new piece of information.

"And he also filled me in on a couple of things."

"Like what?" she asked, this time trying not to let her worry become to obvious.

"Well like him running over your cat, Mr. Bonkers. My sympathies." Randy patted her hand and Donna smiled faintly, "And he also said it would be wise if I was the one to pick out our wedding rings. Our at least my ring."

Instantly Donna knew what that was referencing and she dropped her head into her hands as she released a groan, "Oh God…he told you about the man ring."

"Yup." Randy nodded, "Again my sympathies."

Laughing lightly Donna lifted her head up and at that same moment she realized what her boyfriend had said.

"Wait a minute. Our wedding rings?" she repeated, raising her eyebrows a bit, "Does that mean our wedding is still on?"

Randy looked back at her, "If you want it to be."

Hearing his answer made Donna's smile gradually grow as she stared back at him.

0o0o0o

Angela and Hyde stood outside the Forman's bedroom door just as they had an hour or two ago, and just like before there seemed to be nothing but silence coming from the other side of the door.

Hyde was sure that if Red and Kitty were awake with Lucy in there with them there would have to be some muffled sounds coming from their room. Then again this information about the couple being awake had come from Laurie who wasn't exactly known for her honesty, but on the other hand if their parents really were asleep where was Lucy?

While all these thoughts were swarming around in Hyde's head, Angela wasted little time in finding out whether her patient was awake or not and she knocked her knuckles against the door.

"Come in." a voice said not two seconds after the knock.

Angela's smile stretched onto her face before she grabbed the door knob and pushed open the door for herself and Hyde—who still seemed surprised by the very quick reply. She held in a laugh and walked up ahead of him in the effort to remain professional and not giggle at Hyde's shell shocked appearance as he staggered into the room.

"You're awake." Hyde said sounding both surprised and confused as soon as he saw the sight of Red, Kitty, and Lucy sitting in the large bed looking very much alert.

His words went unheard by the occupants in the room as Angela got ready to do her job.

"Hello Mrs. Forman." She greeted the older woman.

Kitty smiled up at the nurse, "Oh hello Angela, how are you dear?"

"I'm just fine Mrs. Forman, and I think I should be the one asking _you_ that question." She teased lightly, before repeating the question, "How are you doing?"

Tuning out his wife's words as she explained the way she was currently feeling to Angela—he had already heard it minutes ago when she'd told him—Red stood up from his comfy spot on the mattress to give Angela any extra space she needed. Once he was on his feet he looked down at Lucy, ready to take her with him but decided against it when she saw Kitty's arm still wrapped protectively around the small girl. He smiled lightly at the scene before stepping away and walking over to where Hyde was standing.

"You're awake." Hyde said in disbelief as he stared at his surrogate father.

Red scowled in return, "Are you on dope?"

"No. No." Hyde was quick to answer as he shook his head back and forth, wishing that would help snap him back to normal.

"Oh and this is Lucy." Kitty voice traveled over to the standing men; she'd obviously finished discussing herself and was eager to show off her precious grandchild, "My granddaughter. Laurie's daughter."

Angie smiled down at the little girl, "Hello, Lucy, I've heard a lot about you."

Hearing this confused both Red and Kitty and the couple exchanged curious glances. Theses looks didn't go unnoticed by Angela or Hyde, who had luckily managed to get past the fake sleeping thing his adopted parents had apparently pulled on him, and so they began to explain.

"Yeah we were kinda there when Laurie broke the news to Fez." Hyde explained to the pair.

Though she was glad to learn that her daughter had finally shared her secret with Fez, Kitty wanted to know more of the details. "What happened?"

"What happened?" Red asked at the same time as his wife, although he was less interested in the little details and wanted to know if he need to get his hunting rifle out of the closet or not.

Hyde looked over at Angela and then back at his parental figures, "Well Fez fainted twice and then woke up with Ricky Ricardo possessing his body…." He paused and shrugged one of his shoulders, "So all in all, it wasn't all that bad."

"Fez fainted? Oh the poor dear." Kitty said sounding like any worried mother as she looked up at Angela, "Is he alright?"

"He's doing just fine, Mrs. Forman, so how about we our concern back to you?" Angela suggested hoping this time Kitty would tell her more about how she was feeling and not just about her healthy family members.

While Angela went on with asking Kitty more medical related questions, Hyde made himself comfortable in one of the two arm chairs near Kitty's bed. It didn't take long for Red to seat himself in the other one.

Red turned his head to Hyde and lifted his chin up a bit, "So, how's it really going with Laurie and Tonto?"

"I don't know really know, Red." Hyde answered truthfully, "What I told you was the last I caught before I heard them going into my room to talk things out."

"Your room?" the balding man asked with a frown.

He nodded, "Yeah, Eric sent them in there."

"Eric?" Red questioned, now even more confused than before.

"Yeah." Hyde nodded once again before continuing, "When things started getting kinda outta control he started ordering us all to go into certain rooms of the house."

"And you all just listened to him?"

"Yeah. He can actually get pretty scary, man." He admitted causing the older man to chuckle.

Over on the bed Angela was busy checking the IV on Kitty making sure it was dripping correctly, that things were in the right place, and so on. And while Kitty laid back against her pillows having gone though this so many times already—it was more than routine—Lucy watched Angie's actions with such curiosity and interest…she had to know what this lady was doing to her grandma.

"Why she doing that Granma?" she asked, tugging on her grandmother's hand.

"She's making sure my medicine is going in right, sweetie." Kitty explained trying to make the explanation as simple as she could, "Angela is my nurse and it's her job to take care of me."

Lucy frowned and titled her head to the side, "But Granpa take care of you."

Kitty nodded and smiled, "Yes, your grandpa does take care of me. Just like your Uncle Steven and Your Uncle Eric." she added in, "But Angela takes care of my medicine and helps tell your grandpa and uncles how they can take care of me. A nurse's job is very important because they take care of sick people and help them feel better."

"I wanna be a nurse!" Lucy exclaimed happily with a little bounce on the bed.

Angela grinned at the little girl's excitement, "I'm sure you'd make a wonderful nurse, honey. And you know, your grandma was a nurse too."

Brown puppy dog eyes went wide at this new piece of information, "You a nurse Granma?"

"Used to be, sweetie." Kitty corrected.

"I be a nurse just like you, Grandma!" Lucy declared proudly.

A large smile quickly made its way to Kitty's face when she heard her granddaughter's announcement. Of course she knew that there was no guarantee that the little girl would keep this career choice in mind years later, or even tomorrow for that matter, but hearing her say she wanted to follow her grandmother's steps in becoming a nurse made Kitty's heart swell with happiness and brought tears to her eyes.

"Okay Nurse Kiddo," Hyde said, suddenly at Kitty's bedside and taking his niece in his arms, "Let's move over here so Nurse Angela can have more room to finish checking on Nurse Grandma."

The two women smiled as they watched Hyde carry Lucy over to where he and Red were seated.

"Mrs. Forman, Steven was telling me you're only getting up to use the bathroom." Angela started to say, "I told him if you want, I can bring a catheter with me next time and…"

"No." Kitty firmly interjected.

"But Mrs. Forman, if you're having trouble…"

Kitty shook her head not letting the young woman continue, "Angela, I know where you're going with this and the answer is no. I don't need one of those things yet. And if you did put me on a catheter, those two over there would never let me out of this bed again." She commented as she gestured towards Hyde and Red who exchanged frowns, "It may only be a few steps but I enjoy getting out of bed and being able to take those small walks."

"Okay." Angela nodded knowing she had to respect her patient's wishes, "But when you do feel ready for one, you'll let me know, alright?"

The ill woman nodded in agreement, "Okay."

After several minutes and many questions later, Angela was wrapping up her visit, reviewing some of the changes and adjustments she'd made with Kitty and her family.

"I increased your morphine intake just a bit but it should be enough to help with the pain a little bit more." She said to Kitty but at the same time informing Red and Hyde, "And I think instead of waiting till Tuesday to come back, I'll drop in some time tomorrow to check on you. Is that okay?"

Immediately Red began to think the worst when he heard Angela's plan of stopping by tomorrow instead of skipping the day in between. Was Kitty getting worse and now needed to be checked in on even more than before? Hyde wasn't as panicked as he adopted father and even smirked slightly as he mind first went to thinking that maybe Angela was making her next trip so soon so that they could have another conversation like the one they'd had today. However as soon as he thought this, he had the urge to kick himself for being so selfish and immediately thinking about himself and not Kitty and her health which was most probably the reason for Angela's planned visit tomorrow.

Kitty didn't seem to have any concern like the other two and simply nodded her head, "That sounds just fine, Angela, thank you."

Angela nodded her own head as she smiled and stood up from her spot on the side of the bed, "Now I'm going to go ahead and take off so you can go back to spending time with your little granddaughter over there. Bye Lucy."

Seeing the pretty nurse wave at her Lucy lifted her own hand and began to wave back from her seat on her Grandpa Red's lap.

"Oh actually, I think Laurie will be coming to look for Lucy soon." Kitty said and then looked over at her husband, "Red, honey, why don't you take Lucy with you downstairs while you walk Angela out. That way Laurie will be able to find Lucy."

His wife's suggestion confused Red and his face showed it, "Kitty, Laurie will be able to find her up here. She's the one that dropped her off."

"I know. But it would just be easier and much quicker for Laurie to find Lucy if she was _downstairs_." Kitty said hoping this time Red get her message.

"Alright, fine." Red grumbled before grabbing Lucy off his lap and getting ready to hand her over to Hyde, "Here Steven. You take Lucy and walk Angela out while I stay here and…"

Rapidly Kitty shook her head and she jumped in to interrupt, "No, no, no, Red, I want you to do it."

"Why?"

"Because." Kitty started to say and then paused trying to think up an excuse. It looked like Red wasn't going to be able to figure out what she was trying to do so she was going to have to get him out of here on her own, "Because if Laurie needs your help with handling Fez you'll already be there."

Red took a few seconds to think over Kitty's words before he nodded his head, "Good point."

With that said, Red rose from his seat, holding his granddaughter in his arms and headed for the door. However, it wasn't the door that lead out of the bedroom and Kitty notice this.

"Red Forman, you leave that gun in that closet." She warned in a stern tone of voice.

Not wanting to upset his sick wife, Red reluctantly stepped away from their closet door and turned himself around to open the bedroom door.

"Come on Angela, I'll walk you out." Red muttered before stepping out into the hallway.

The young nurse smiled and waved at the two people left in the bedroom before following Red and Lucy out of the room's exit.

"Alright, Steven," Kitty said as soon as they were alone, "let's hear it."

"Hear what?" Hyde asked, confused. Though he had figured out that she wanted to talk to him alone from the way she had been persisting that Red go downstairs, he couldn't figure out what it was she wanted to tell him.

"Hear what you've been wanting to tell me since you and Angela first walked in."

Hyde frowned, "I didn't wanna say anything."

"Sweetie." She said with a sigh, "I don't want to spend whatever time I have left trying to crack your Zen code. Please just tell me."

"It was nothing." He said as he shifted in his seat, "I just…wanted to ask you if you had a nice fake nap."

Kitty giggled, "You figured it out."

"Yeah." Hyde smirked, "Well Laurie kinda spilled the beans too."

"I thought she would." She commented with a nod.

Sitting himself up straighter, he began to speak again, "So your plan was to pretend to be asleep so Angela would have to stay longer and wait to check up on you, forcing her to have a conversation with me."

"Now how do you know that was the plan?" Kitty asked trying to sound offended by such an idea, "Maybe Red and I pretended to be asleep so we could have some alone time and everything else just happened to work out the way they did."

With a smirk playing on his lips, Hyde shook his head as he stood up from his seat walking closer to Kitty's beside where he soon took a seat, "Nah, I know you guys didn't do it for some alone time. If you had you wouldn't have done fake sleeping; Red would have just literally kicked us out of the room."

"That's true." Kitty agreed while smiling.

Hyde shook his head looking down before looking back up at Kitty, "You're on your deathbed and you're still playing matchmaker."

Kitty smiled and laughed a small weak laugh as she reached over and grabbed Hyde's hand, she squeezed it so lightly, he barely felt it, "One day…one day you'll understand, Steven."

"Understand what it's like to be a meddling mother? Probably not." He said with a tilt of his head, "Understand the will to do whatever it takes to make sure my kid is happy…maybe."

The two shared a smile before Kitty asked the question she couldn't wait to hear the answer to.

"So how did it go?"

"It went pretty good." Hyde replied and then continued on with the details he knew his mother was waiting to hear about, "We went down to the kitchen, warmed up some coffee and talked. First it was mostly about you and the medicine and then we just started talking about random stuff." He began to smirk at the thought of the some of the things he and Angela had shared with each other. "You know she's an only child? And she wanted to be a nurse since she was a kid. She grew up in Florida but she hated the heat so after high school she left and came over here. Can you believe that? She actually came to Wisconsin _for_ the snow."

Kitty's grin grew, it was so nice hearing Steven sound so excited and happy about something, "Sounds like you two had a very nice chat."

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Did you set a date for the next one?" she couldn't resist asking.

"You just heard it. Sometime tomorrow." Hyde answered, "So I was kinda hoping you could maybe do a repeat performance of the whole fake sleeping thing."

She smiled feebly, "I'll see what I can do."

Hyde noticed the lack of energy Kitty seemed to have now, she looked weaker than she did minutes before and even her voice was getting softer, and he quickly became concerned.

"You okay, Mom?"

"I'm fine." She replied through half lidded eyes, "Just tried. The new morphine intake… mixing with the other medication… is just a little too much for my body to handle… while I'm awake."

He nodded understandingly and began to stand up, "You want me to go so you can get some rest? I can go get Red…"

"No. No. Stay. Stay here." Kitty called out weakly as she held her hand out a bit as if it would stop him, "Please, Steven. Just keep talking to me. Tell me about what else you two talked about."

"Okay." Hyde agreed and then sat back down before filling her request, "Well I told her about the water tower and all the stories that go with it. Actually, I'm thinking of maybe taking her up there. Just so she can see it for herself you know. Haven't told her yet or the guys but…" he suddenly stopped his story when he saw Kitty's eyes had closed and there seemed to be a stillness about her.

"Mom?" he called out, feeling his heart beating faster than he ever thought it could.

He watched her, feeling more and more panicked until he finally saw the small movement of her chest rising and falling. She was breathing, slowly but still breathing. Hyde felt a wave of relief wash over him but still took a few seconds prior to standing up on his feet. He was about to leave the room so she could have some peace and quiet to rest in, but stopped in his tracks before he stepped away from her bedside.

Careful not to wake her, Hyde leaned down and placed a gently kiss on her forehead before softly whispering, "Thank you."

* * *

_**Author's Note:** There you go Chapter 46 of "Two Weeks' Hope you liked!_

_Is Donna and Randy's wedding still on? Why is Angela coming on Monday instead of Tuesday? When will Fez get to meet Lucy? Will Lucy become a nurse? Will there be a repeat performance of the fake sleeping? And have Eric and Jackie finished unpacking the groceries yet? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	48. Right As A Father

_**Disclaimer: **I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **Hello everyone! How are you all doing? Hope you're doing well! I'm sorry it took me so long to update. I honestly didn't realize almost a whole month had passed. I should probably keep some kind of calendar close by but with it being summer you're lucky if I can get tell you what month we're in lol. Before we get started with this next chapter I just wanna go over a few things. First off I apologize again for another shorter chapter. Sorry guys, it was going to b a tad bit longer but I decided to save the scene for next time, hopefully that'll mean a sooner update to this story or a possible update to one of my older dustier stories. *crosses finger* I also wanna give a big thank you to each of you because with the last chapter I reached my 300th review here! Yay! Cake and cookies for everyone! Big thank you to That70sShowLover315 for being that 300th review. And big thank yous to everyone who has left any review on this story whether it be just one or one on every chapter like Marla—who I give another great big thank you to! Each and everyone of the reviews, all of your wonderful and encouraging words are what help me continue to write this story when I feel like I should stop and move onto to something else. Thank you to each of you! You're all so very awesome! Oh and a thank you to SuperNeos2 who suggested the question in the video, thanks again and be sure to check out his story, it's a bit gory but definitely a nail biter! And remember if you have an idea for a video question feel free to share! As always please remember I am not a doctor nor am I training to be one watching a House rerun as we speak but don't think that counts. Thanks so very much for all of your marvelous support it means more than you guys know! Hope you enjoy this chapter! Please lemme know in a review if you can and please, Enjoy!_

* * *

"_Who would you say is your favorite actor?" Hyde asked his surrogate mother._

"_Archibald Alexander Leach." A petite brunette answered for the older woman as she breezed into the room from the kitchen, holding a carry-out tray with two drinks in her hands, "Better known as the British American actor, Mr. Cary Grant." She stared at the camcorder, shaking her head lightly, "Everybody knows that."_

_Hyde scowled behind the camera's eyepiece, upset by her return and the way she had not only answered the question that had been direct at Kitty but she was mocking it too! He knew it was a common and simple question but he had a good reason to ask it—or so he thought._

"_The kids watching this video don't know that." He pointed out._

_Jackie scoffed as she sat on the sofa beside Kitty, "We'll be lucky if they even know who Cary Grant is."_

"_Oh that better not be true." Kitty warned in a stern voice when she caught Steven nodding his head; she looked between the two of them as she continued, "Especially if I'm not here. It will be your job to make sure those future generations know about all the great old Hollywood actors and actress. And Cary Grant better be at the top of that list."_

"_Yes, ma'am." The pair agreed with a nod of their heads._

_Kitty smiled a pleased smile, "Good."_

"_Oh here Mom," Jackie started to say as she took one of the paper cups out of the holder, "I got you one of those Strawberry milkshakes from Fatso Burger."_

"_Oh thank you, dear." Came Kitty's reply._

_Watching and filming Jackie hand over a cup and straw to Kitty who happily took them Hyde furrowed his brow. And he furrowed it even more when he saw Jackie take the other drink out stab the top with the straw and begin to take a sip._

"_Fatso Burger?" he asked confused. "Where's my drink?_

_Jackie pulled the straw out from between her lips and looked at the man behind the camera, "Oh you mean the nice cold bottle of A&W Root Beer that you asked for?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_I didn't get it." she simply said before going back to her own milkshake._

"_Why not?" he questioned—his voice calm, steady, and Zen._

_She shrugged her shoulder before explaining, "I knew you had really just sent me out to get your stupid root beer so you could get a few more video segments without me in it. So I decided to give you those segments and a few more too."_

"_True." Hyde admitted before adding, "But I also really wanted that root beer."_

_A grin stretched onto Jackie's lips, "I knew that too."_

_While Hyde's face dropped at the sight of the former cheerleaders mischievous smile, Kitty looked over at him looking slightly concerned as she tried to think of something to make him feel a little bit better. It didn't take too long for an idea to enter her mind._

"_Oh Steven, I'll go get another cup from the kitchen and I'll split my shake with you. I don't think I'll be able to finish it anyway…" she said as she stood up from her seat on the couch._

_Hyde shook his head, "It's alright, Mom. Jackie got that milkshake for you and…I really wanted a root beer anyway."_

"_Steven, stop being such a big baby." Jackie retorted with an eye roll, "If you want a root beer you can go out and buy it yourself." Her smile quickly reappeared, "I can take over the video making for awhile."_

_Now he knew exactly what she was up to. This was more than her burning him by not bringing him his root beer and instead using the money to buy herself and their adopted mother milkshakes. She was trying—once again—to take over the video. Not wanting her to satisfaction of knowing that he had even considered it for a split second, he firmly held onto the side of the video camera and focused it back on Kitty._

"_So what would you say is your favorite movie?" he asked smirking at the glare Jackie was sending in his direction._

_0o0o0o_

Down in the basement Michael Kelso sat on the left arm of the old sofa looking quite distressed. He had his arms crossed over his chest and his head hanging down with a worried and almost saddened expression on his face. Beside him were the two important women in his life, trying their best to comfort him. His wife stood at his side, rubbing his arm in a soothing manner while Little Betsy sat on the seat of the couch patting her father's knee in hopes of cheering him up—she never liked seeing her daddy upset.

The trio were so absorbed in their little family huddle that not one of them noticed the door of the small back room open as their foreign friend walked out. It wasn't until Fez closed the door behind him that they heard the outside noise and their heads looked up—though Kelso's head did more of a shot up moment—and turned behind them.

As soon as he saw his best friend a look of relief appeared on Kelso's face before he released a smile. Not two seconds passed before the police officer pushed away from his family and hurried his way over to Fez, instantly wrapping his arms around the shorter man and pulling him into a death gripping hug. Fez was both surprised and confused by the actions but didn't question it, mostly because before he could even form a question to ask Kelso had already started to speak.

"Oh Fez, buddy! You're alive!" Kelso cried into Fez's shoulder and then pulled away to look at him with a very serious look on his face, "Don't _ever_ do that again!"

Kelso dropped his head back onto Fez's shoulder and hugged him even tighter. While trying to get some air so he could breathe, a confused Fez looked over at his best friend's wife for some type of help.

Smiling, Brooke stood up from the seat she had just sat down in and began to explain her husband's actions, "When Michael saw Laurie leave Hyde's room but not you he thought she had killed you and taken your soul for her eternal youth or some silly idea like that."

"Eternal life, Brooke, God!" came the exclamation from Kelso as he at last pulled out of his embrace with his friend; though stayed close by, not yet ready to leave his buddy that he was sure he had almost lost forever, "And it's not a silly idea. When we were six, Eric said he saw her do it to a kid that used to live in neighborhood, Rob Struthers."

Brooke shook her head, "Michael, there is no Rob Struthers."

"Yeah, not anymore!" Kelso fired back.

Usually at a moment like this Fez would have stepped in to try and help Kelso make a convincing point by agreeing and backing up whatever he said, but right now he could have cared less about Rob Struthers and whether or not he existed or ever had. He wanted to share with his friends the news that Laurie had given him. After all they were more than his friends, they were his family and he couldn't wait to tell them that their little family had grown!

"No, Kelso." He said with a small shake of his head, "Laurie did not take anything from me. She gave me something."

Swiftly, Kelso pulled off his hand—that had been resting on his friends shoulder—and stepped two or three big steps away from Fez.

"It's not contagious, is it?" he asked worriedly.

Fez's smile started to grow more and more as he replied, "No. It is something that is wonderful. Magical. And has changed my life forever."

At first Kelso was puzzled by what his best friend was saying but then he replayed the words in his head and put them together with the smiling, dreamy eyed expression that Fez was wearing and he came to a conclusion that only Michael Kelso could come up with.

"Ah man! You guys totally _did it_! And in Hyde's room! _Burn_!" a grinning Kelso shouted and then threw his open hand up in the air, "I call dibs on telling him!"

While Brooke gave her excited husband a warning look and Betsy was giggling at her daddy's actions, Fez only smiled more as he continued on with the sharing of his big news.

The foreigner shook his head, "No, no, Kelso, it was not sex."

"Oh." Kelso said sounding disappointed as he lowered his arm that was soon smacked lightly by Brooke.

"Laurie has given me the news that I, Fez, am a father!" he announced his voice full of pride and wearing a smile that matched perfectly, "I have a little girl."

Even though they had been in the room when Laurie was talking to Fez—when he was conscious and unconscious—about their daughter and technically they already knew that he was a father, when they saw how happy and excited he was when he shared the news with them, Brooke and Kelso couldn't help but feel the same way.

Brooke was glad to see that Fez had stooped his fainting episodes and had come around to the idea of being a father and Kelso was thrilled with the fact that one of his friends was a dad too! They could be Daddy Buddies! With great big smiles on their lips the married couple began to clap and cheer as they congratulated their friend—no one ever noticing the unhappy little figure that moved farther away from the happiness being shared near the couch.

Walking towards Fez with open arms Brooke gave him a warm hug, "Congratulations, Fez. This is so wonderful."

"Thank you, Brooke." Fez said with a smile when they ended their hug.

"Yeah Fez, man, this is awesome! High five!" Kelso exclaimed lifting up his waiting palm, "We both knocked up chicks without being married to them!"

Brooke's eyes nearly popped out of her head when she heard those words, "Michael!"

"What?" Kelso asked confused by his wife's sudden screech; however one look at his young daughter and he realized his mistake, "Oh, oh right. Um…we both impregnated chicks without being married to them!"

Placing her hand up to her forehead Brooke shook her head as she tired to shield out the image of the twosome high-fiving each other beside her. Kelso and Fez grinned largely, happy to have found another something that they had in common, when an idea suddenly struck Kelso.

"This calls for a celebration!" he shouted cheerfully as he placed his left hand back on Fez's shoulder and moved his right hand to the pockets of his pants; his smiled dropped some, "Aw man, I left my fireworks in my other pants."

"Yes and I left those other pants at home." Brooke informed, knowing her husband's next move would be to run upstairs and tear their luggage apart looking for those pants.

"Aw man!"

"Aw come on, Brooke!"

Feeling like she was talking to two small children, Brooke shook her head and firmly stood her ground, "You'll just have to find another way to celebrate Fez becoming a father."

Though they were both wearing disappointed scowls they still managed to unhappily mutter, "Fine."

"Oo I can pick up some cigars!" Kelso declared excitedly.

"Yes!" Fez nodded and grinned but then paused as he remembered the disgusting cigars they had smoked when Betsy was born, he scrunched his face in disgust before adding, "But make sure they are the candy kind."

The tall man pretty man nodded knowingly, "Of course!"

Relieved to hear that her husband and his friend had found a substitute for a firework celebration and this substitute did not include any source of fire—at least it shouldn't, with these two you never really did know—Brooke turned her head to the seating area of the basement and found her daughter silently sitting in the old lawn chair.

"Betsy, don't you have something to say to your Uncle Fez?" she asked the young girl.

"No."

"It would be nice if you congratulated him, honey." Brooke tried again.

But Betsy wasn't budging, "No."

Brooke's brows knitted closer together, "Why not?"

"Because." She began to answer her mother but turned to glare at her uncle, "You said I would always be your number one little girl."

Her statement made the smile on Fez's face begin to fade as he became filled with guilt. And it didn't help when the little girl's father began to talk and agree with her.

"That's true man." He said with a nod, "I was there when you said it."

Fez's smile had now completely vanished. However before he could day anything or even think of anything to say, Betsy's mother spoke up hoping that she could get her to understand and stop Fez from feeling any sort of shame.

"Sweetie, that's not fair." Brooke began to say in a motherly tone as she sat on the side of the couch closest to the lawn chair, "Your Uncle Fez has a daughter now, his own little girl, who he's going to love very much. But that doesn't mean he's going to stop loving you, right Fez?"

"Yes, yes." The young foreign man quickly agreed and walked over to where the two girls were, taking a seat on the round table infront of Betsy, "You will always be my number two little girl. That's still good, right?" he asked in a tone full of hope.

Stubbornly the little girl replied, "No."

Scooting closer to Betsy meant him having to get down on his knees, but this little girl was a very important person in his life and he didn't like it when she was mad at him and so he kneeled down infront of her and began to speak in a soft sincere voice, "Betsy Boop, you may not always be my number one little girl but you will always be my number one little niece. Is that better?"

There was a long moment of silence as Betsy thought over the words, then finally she gave her answer.

"Yeah." She said with a smile and one nod of her head.

Fez released his own smile that grew in size when he felt Betsy's little arms wrap around his neck, he soon threw his own arms around her tightening their hug. Both Brooke and Kelso watched the scene from afar, a grin on each of their faces.

"And now you are my number one little niece just like I am your number one uncle." Fez concluded when they broke up their hug.

"Number two." Betsy corrected while lifting two fingers up in the air.

"Number two? What the Hell?" Fez asked in an outrage.

"Uncle Casey has a pool." She explained in a matter of fact tone. "But you'll always be my number one Fez."

The corners of Fez's mouth twitched and he nodded again, "I can live with that."

Niece and uncle embraced in a another tight hug and while Brooke thought it was a very sweet scene to witness she couldn't hold in her excitement—or questions—any longer.

"So Fez, when do you get to meet her?" she asked, referring of course to Lucy.

"Soon. Laurie is going to go get her and bring her down here so we can meet." He explained while gazing up at the top of the basement steps. Any second now his daughter would be coming down those steps. He smiled even more when a thought suddenly hit him, "Oh that reminds me."

The family of three watched Fez walk over his pile of suitcases over by the deep freeze and pull out the medium sized one before walking back over to the sitting area of the basement. He dropped the suitcase, flat on the top of the spool table, snapping open the buckles and flipping the top open; looking like the characters in movies who were opening up suitcases filled with money. Fez's suitcase may not have been filled with cash but it did have another kind of loot.

Candy.

The good sized suitcase was filled completely with candy! Various kinds of chocolates, gummies, lollipops all neatly organized by name and taste. Brooke frowned when she saw the contents, not believing they had brought a suitcase full of candy among their other bags of belongings, and Betsy and Kelso gazed at the suitcase and its candy as if it were a glowing box of treasure calling their name!

Fez didn't catch any of their reactions and was instead scanning through the chocolate bars, soon finding what he was looking for, a milk chocolate _Hershey's_ bar.

"Laurie say _Hershey _bars are her favorite candy. I'm going to give her this to get her to like me more." He explained his plan to those in the room.

"Fez, that's sweet but you don't need to bribe her with candy." Brooke began to say, "I'm sure she's going to love you with or without candy."

While he was appreciative for Brooke's kind and reassuring words, Fez still couldn't help but still feel those butterflies flapping around in his stomach. While playing with his fingers, as best he could with the chocolate bar in his hand, he admitted anxiously, "I'm so nervous."

Brooke smiled and placed a kindly hand on Fez's arm, "It's alright. It's a good nervous, right? Everything's going to be great."

"Yeah, buddy." Kelso agreed, finally tearing himself away from the candy suitcase, "Unless when she meets you she starts crying or laughing at you."

A worried look crossed Fez's face, "Why…why would she laugh at me when she meets me?"

"Dude, I laughed at you when I first met you! You were all funny with your accent." Kelso recalled with a large dopey grin before doing his best to impersonate Fez's unique accent, "_Good day! I say good day_!"

As Kelso burst out into another fit of laughter, Fez felt even more butterflies enter his stomach.

"Aye no…" he said sounding scared, "Do you think she will really laugh at me?"

"Oh no, Fez. Michael's just playing around." Brooke said while glaring at her chuckling husband,

"Betsy Boop?" Fez called the little girl ignoring the yelp of pain in the background that came from Kelso when Brooke pinched his side, "Do you think Lucy will laugh at me when she meets me?"

The girl's eyes were still stuck on the stash of candy but she still managed to give a response—a bit unconvincing response but a response, "No….Can I have some candy?"

"Yes, yes. Take whichever you want." Fez said not sounding like he wasn't paying much attention either until he added, "Except the _Hershey _bars."

Brooke and Kelso exchanged worried looks with one another. Fez was sharing his candy? Without being told to? The poor guy really was scared! Looking over at their now pacing, fretful friend Kelso began to feel even worse about the comment he'd made earlier…well he felt bad not worse after all it was a pretty good one.

"Hey Fez, man. Brooke was right I was just kidding." He said hoping to calm Fez's nervousness.

Fez stopped his pacing and turned around to face his friends but his worry was still showing in his eyes, "But what if you are right? What if she cries or laughs at me…what if hates me?"

The weight of that question made Fez slowly sink down onto the couch and before he knew it Kelso and Brooke were sitting next to him; Brooke sitting on his left and Kelso on his right. Betsy was still absorbed in searching for the perfect candy in the stash.

"Fez, she's not going to hate you." Brooke said firmly but in a soft, soothing tone.

"Yeah man, she's gonna love you." Kelso tried, while putting an arm around the foreigner's shoulder, "I mean any kid would love to have you as their dad…well any kid expect for my kid cause she loves me and wouldn't trade me for anyone else in the world, right Bets?"

Betsy—who was now back in the lawn chair eating a _Butterfinger_ candy—nodded her head, "Right." She paused as a memory came flooding back to her, "'Cept when you forgot to pick me up from school. I'd trade you for another daddy that day."

Hearing this revelation, Brooke looked over the worried Fez and glared angrily at her panicked looking husband. She wasn't saying anything and that frightened Kelso even more. Thinking quickly he reached into Fez's candy suitcase and pulled out Brooke's favorite candy.

He lifted up the _Kit-Kat_ bar to her and smiled a small hopeful smile, "Candy?"

0o0o0o

"And done!" Jackie happily announced as she closed up the cabinet she had put her last item away in.

"Great, me too." Eric said with a smile, still standing by the refrigerator he had just finished filling, "I think we deserve a little TV break."

Smiling at the suggestion she nodded her head, "Okay. But I'm in charge of the remote."

"Yeah…wait what? No! I'm in charge of the remote, it was my idea." Eric was quick to remind Jackie.

"Yeah but I put away more groceries than you did." Jackie pointed out smiling as if she's already won the argument.

"That's not fair. We weren't even keeping track."

"Eric," Jackie began to say, "I put away four full bags, you put away two."

"Well it's still not fair." Eric argued weakly, already seeing that he needed to come up with a more convincing argument; soon one hit him and he raised a shaking finger as he began to share it out loud, "You…_you_ went to the store and picked everything out, _you knew_ there were more things that went into the pantry than the fridge. For all I know you gave me the easier job _purposely_ so that later when I suggested watching TV _you_ would be able to be in charge of the remote."

Jackie stared at Eric in disbelief before shaking her head, "Eric, I didn't do any of that. But I can't say I don't like the way things turned out, because I do." She added with a grin, "With me in charge of the remote we won't have to watch some geeky science thing."

A frown indented itself onto Eric's forehead, "What makes you think we'd watch some geeky science thing if I were in charge of the remote?"

"Because you're you. And you're a teacher. Also known as an adult nerd." Jackie informed as if it were common knowledge.

Feeling more offended than hurt, Eric knew he couldn't take this sitting down, "Well you're a girl! With you in charge of the remote we'll probably end up watching something girly, like…The pink…pony…make-up channel."

Trying to hold in a laugh, Jackie lifted a perfectly shaped eyebrow, "The Pink Pony Make-up Channel?"

"Yeah." Eric nodded trying his best to stay composed and make it seem like he really knew what he was talking about, "You guys don't get that channel here? It's really popular over in Seattle."

This time she couldn't hold in her giggles and the sound of Jackie's laughter filled the air. It was a sound Eric was beginning to love more and more each time he heard it, and as it had done before it caused him to let out his own carefree laugh. The pair continued to share the chuckle as Jackie pushed open the swinging door to enter the living room with Eric right behind her. However, as soon as they saw the yellow sofa and the two occupants sitting on top of it, their laughed was quickly stifled.

"Hi Donna. Hi Randy." Jackie greeted.

"Oh hey guys." said Eric hoping that the moment wasn't as awkward as he felt it was, "I almost forgot you guys were still in here."

Staring at the seated couple Jackie tried to read their facial expressions and body language to figure out how things had gone between them—knowing Steven Hyde, Mr. Zen Master, for so many years had given her good practice, "So…is everything okay?"

"Yeah…" Randy nodded but was interrupted before he could say more.

"Eric." Donna said, now standing up and looking Eric right in the eye, "Can I talk to you?"

He nodded his head, "Oh yeah, sure Donna. I mean it's pretty obvious that you can since you are talking to me right now so…" he joked.

Donna did not look very amused, "I mean alone."

"Oh." He said his voice no longer sounding very playful.

Looking over at Jackie he hoped to get some help from her but all she did was ignore his worried expression and raise up both her eyebrows while making her eyes wide silently giving him the message to '_Go!_' He nodded back at her and turned back to Donna.

"Okay. Yeah." He nodded heading back towards the kitchen, "Come on."

Without saying another word, Donna strode her way into the kitchen walking through the swinging door that Eric held open for her. Eric looked at Jackie once more, still feeling nervous about going and talking to Donna _alone_ for the first time in years, but seeing the little thumbs up sign from the former cheerleader made him smile and gave him just the right amount of confidence to push him through that doorway.

Once Donna and Eric were out of the room the area was filled with a silence that wasn't exactly awkward but wouldn't be called comfortable either.

"So uh…The Pink Pony Make-up Channel?" Randy asked breaking the silence with the conversation he and Donna had overheard minutes ago, "Yeah you know, I don't think we get that channel upstate either. We do get The Pink Horse Make-up Channel, but I don't think that's really the same."

Jackie smiled politely before letting her eyes scan over the room—to anyone watching the scene they would have guessed she was searching for an escape.

"Hey Chatty Cathy." A voice called from behind Jackie causing her to turn around and find Laurie Forman entering the living room from the same doorway Eric had just left through, "I thought you were the one dating my dorkward brother."

"Yeah. I mean we're not really dating exactly. Well we are but not exactly…" Jackie suddenly frowned, why was she suddenly stumbling over her words? Maybe she'd been spending too much time with Eric. She cleared her throat before giving it anther go, "We haven't been on any dates yet. Well except for one but it wasn't really…"

Not patient enough to go through the whole explanation again, Laurie rolled her eyes and interrupted the babbling brunette, "Yeah, well whatever you guys are doing, did you know he'd out there alone with the bottle blonde Amazon?"

Puzzled by the name it took Jackie few seconds before she figured out who Laurie was talking about "You mean Donna?"

"Yup." She nodded and before Jackie could explain that she knew and they had just gone out to talk, Laurie continued to speak, "Who knew Little Brother was such a chick magnet—that didn't involve actual baby chickens that is."

Now Jackie Burkhart was a mature young woman. The years when she dated Steven were the years that she first began the transition from Daddy's Precious Princess to Mature Young Woman, the recent years with the events of Kitty's cancer had helped complete that transition. However—just like with many other people—there was still a bit of the immature teenage Jackie buried in her that managed to make its way out every now and then. Like the 'Get off my boyfriend' situation years ago with Michael and Steven.

History seemed to repeat itself and before she realized what she was saying the words left her mouth as she looked at Laurie and asked in a demanding to know type of tone, "What did you see?"

"Relax, Tinkerbelle." Laurie said with a light laugh, "They're not doing anything. _Yet_." She added just to show the old Laurie was still in there too, "But you know, for someone who's 'not exactly dating' him, you did get pretty jealous when you thought he and Donna were up to something."

"I wasn't jealous. I was worried." Jackie argued before she realized what she'd said, "But not for me. For Randy. Donna's Fiancé."

Then remembering that the two had yet to meet since this was the first time Laurie had been home in years and the days before Randy hadn't been here, Jackie began with the introductions.

"Laurie, this is Randy. Randy, this is Laurie, the former whore of Point Place."

Randy stood up and extended his hand in Laurie's direction, Laurie took his hand and shook it, smiling in his direction before turning her head back to Jackie.

"Is this the Eric Kelso crossover?" she asked in barely a whisper. When Jackie nodded her head, Laurie looked Randy over once more before shrugging her shoulders, "At least he'd got more of Kelso's looks."

After making that statement the blonde let go of poor confused Randy's hand—he wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not—and headed over to the living room staircase.

"Wait, where're you going?" asked Jackie.

"To go get Lucy."

Jackie looked at Laurie trying not to smile, "Does that mean Fez is…speaking English again?"

"Yeah." Laurie nodded, "Well what he calls English."

The girls shared a laugh that Randy soon joined in on. When laughter died down Laurie began to speak again, her smile staying in place.

"He wants to meet her. He's even getting her her favorite candy so he can give it to her as a present when they meet." She shared with them.

"Aw! That's so cute!" Jackie gushed with her own smile, that did sound like something her foreign friend would do. He, of course, had every right to be mad at first but everyone knew he wouldn't stay that way for very long. The image that Laurie painted made Jackie smile even more, she had to see this in person! "Come on Randy, we've gotta get good seats for this!"

She then stretched her hand out and grasped it onto Randy's pulling him up from the seat he had dropped himself into a minute or two ago. Laurie watched the scene with an angry frown but didn't say a word. Jackie and Randy were only a few steps away from the kitchen door when a voice from above stopped them in their tracks.

"Both of you sit right back down." Red Forman ordered as he descended down the living room stairs with Lucy in his arms and Angela right behind them, "If Laurie wanted an audience for this then she would have assembled you and the dumbasses to watch. But she didn't. So stay out of there."

Knowing it was never wise to argue with Red Forman Jackie dropped Randy's handed and pouted with disappointment. Meanwhile Laurie turned to her father, who was now by her side at the bottom of the steps—and smiled up at him.

"Thank you, Daddy." She said in her innocent-little girl voice.

"But Mr. Forman, that's not fair." Jackie protested—suddenly understanding what it was like to have a sister, who _always_ got her way—"I already missed the first half."

Not saying a word, Red looked at Jackie and shrugged his shoulders causing Jackie's pout to reappear. Seeing this as a good a moment as any Randy began to walk behind the couch and over to the older man.

"Uh Mr. Forman," he started to say, "I'm sorry I haven't been around much since you here, sir but…"

"That's nothing to apologize for, Randy." Red said in a very serious tone after taking two or three seconds to remember the kid's name.

Randy chuckled lightly and nodded his head, "Well um I just wanted to say that I really am very sorry about…you know, what's going on with Mrs. Forman."

There was an somber kind of silence that followed when Red gave a firm nod of his head before lowering his gaze down to the carpeted floor as if avoiding the eyes of the other occupants in the room. Then after a moment he cleared his throat and looked back up, staring straight at Randy.

"You still can't go into that basement." He said sternly.

"Well I gave it a shot." Randy replied in a joking manner that soon switched to a more frightened one when he saw the intimidating glare Red was sending him, "I'm just gonna go and sit over here…" he pointed to the sofa as he began to make his way back to it, "Find something to watch. Maybe The Pink Pony Make-up Channel."

His last comment earned him several weird looks; Jackie's being the least, she was trying not to laugh, and Red's being the most, what kind of dumbass channel was that?

"Um, Mr. Forman." Angela said, at last speaking up, "I really should be going now."

"Oh right." Red said as if just remembering that the young nurse was in the room, he then looked at Jackie and pointed a finger from his free hand in her direction, "Jackie, go walk Angela out."

The petite brunette frowned at the suggestion, "Me? Why me? I mean no offense, Angela." She was sure to add in while looking at the nurse, "It's just getting to watch Laurie tell Fez about their daughter is like…one of those eclipse things. It's a rare and entertaining moment you want to be able to see in person."

"Oh, I understand. I actually caught the first half." Angela informed with an understanding smile.

"You caught the first half?" Jackie repeated and when she saw Angie nod a smile sprung into place, "Well then it would be such a _shame_ if you missed the second half. Come on!"

Jackie waved the other young woman over towards the swinging door that she was already headed for once again.

"Jackie." Red called out in a warning tone, halting her actions immediately. "The only people I want down in that basement are Laurie, Lucy, and Tarzan, along with myself."

Laurie turned to her father wearing a scowl, "Daddy."

"What?" he asked returning the frown, "I keep the place dumbass free and I'm not allowed in?"

"That's right." She seriously replied but kept her voice in the sweet tone she usually spoke to her father in.

"Fine." The balding man muttered with a small sigh before moving his attention to the little girl in his arms, "Lucy, if that man in the basement does or says anything to make you or your mom sad, you yell for me and I'll go down there and stick my foot up his…" remembering the pair of pure ears, he changed the last word to a more G rated word. "butt. Okay?"

Lucy giggled in her grandfather's arms, "Granpa say 'butt!'" she said covering her face with her hands and erupting into another fit of giggles.

"I guess I'll take that as an 'okay.'" Red said as he watched his laughing granddaughter.

Laurie shook her head at her father, trying not to laugh along with Lucy, "Daddy, you shouldn't have said that to her."

"She needs to know that she'll have at least one man there to protect her no matter what." Red declared firmly, his face softening some as he went on, "And that goes for you too, Kitten."

"Thanks Daddy." She said smiling before holding her arms out, "Come 'ere, baby."

Wordlessly Laurie took Lucy into her arms, never even commenting on the slight hesitation she felt from her father when she took her from his grasp. She knew he was worried about them and didn't want either one of them to get hurt, but after talking to Fez, Laurie also knew that Fez wasn't going to hurt her or Lucy. She flashed her father one more reassuring smile before she and her daughter disappeared behind the swinging door.

"Okay Angela, I guess I should walk you out now." Jackie said still a bit disappointed about missing the 'show.'

Angela smiled a silent thank you and then the two young ladies headed to the front door. Just before Jackie opened the door Angela turned around to say her goodbyes when she suddenly noticed that Red was no longer standing near the staircase.

"Mr. Forman?" she called.

Swiveling herself around Jackie saw the same sight Angela saw; Red standing near the entrance of the kitchen, his right arm already pushing open the door.

"Mr. Forman, you're not gonna follow Laurie down into the basement are you?" Jackie asked in a mock parenting tone, hands on hips.

"No." he replied with a deep frown, "I'm just gonna listen in by the door."

"Mr. Forman!"

"Kitty always says taking pictures of you kids is her God-given right as mother." Red began his argument with the reminder, "Well, doing whatever I can to protect you kids is my God-given right as a father."

* * *

_**Author's Note:** And that would be Chapter 47 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_How will Lucy and Fez's meeting go? Will Lucy laugh at him? What does Donna want to talk to Eric about? Will Red get caught listening in on the conversation in the basement? Will Jackie get to catch the end of the 'show?' And what is the Pink Pony Make-up channel? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of 'Two Weeks"_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	49. Would Have Gotten That Hotdog Though

_**Disclaimer: **I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **Hi there everyone! How are you all doing? Hope you're doing well and having a great week! Today I have for you wonderful readers a new chapter of 'Two Weeks' Yay! So very sorry that it took so long to post, although I am keeping up with the posting once a month—month isn't over yet! lol I'm trying to update more often but with these chapters being the longest plus other stories I'm working on it makes it a bit difficult, though of course your reviews and words of encouragement are what help motivate me to finish a chapter and keep writing more! Just a couple of things before we get started because ei know your eager to read the new chapter. First off, please remember I am not a doctor, nurse, or anything like that nor am I training to be one, am taking a couple of health classes this semester but I don't think that's really gonna help me here too much lol. Second thing, this chapter is a lot longer than the usual chapters 8,000+ and I nearly pulled an all nighter on a school night mind you so please excuse errors and it would really mean a lot if you took the time to review this chapter. On the topic of reviews I would like to say thank you once again to all of you very awesome readers! Your words are so generous and I am s happy that you all are still enjoying this story after all this time! Thank you! Oh and btw you lurker/guest readers don't be afraid to leave a review yourself I do accept anon reviews :D I lve hearing from all my readers! And lastly, if you all could take a few minutes today to pray, think or do whatever it is you do, for the safety of those over in Louisiana where the latest hurricane has hit, this includes one of our own, Marla (Marla's Lost), thank you. Okay I think I'm gonna wrap up now because I wanna get at least two hours sleep before I've gotta get up and start the day. Thanks so very much once again! Hope you all enjoy this longer chapter! Please lemme know in a review if you can, and please, Enjoy!_

* * *

_Jackie Burkhart sat in the pea soup colored armchair, flipping through one of the old photo albums that had been brought out earlier while only half listening to Kitty answer Steven's latest question. It wasn't that she wasn't interested in what Kitty gave as a reply to the questions—she really was enjoying being able to learn more about this woman she'd always seen as a mother figure—it was the darn boring questions that Steven was coming up with. No one could possibly come up with an interesting answer to questions like 'Which Darrin from _Bewitched_ was the better of the two?'_

_Steven was loosing his touch with the question. He needed to do what she said and take a break from filming, she could take over for abit, go take a nap or find something to wake up him and snap him out of this dull marathon of questions. Maybe he just needed a little caffeine...maybe she should have bought him that root beer…Oh well!_

_With a small smile playing on her lips, Jackie flipped to a new page of pictures of Laurie and Eric as babies. There were a lot of them, but that of course was no surprise to Jackie. What did surprise her a bit was that there were no baby pictures of the rest of the gang. Sure, Kitty wouldn't have been able to take any of the photos but maybe they could have given her some to put in with Laurie and Eric's baby photos—she was always saying they were all her babies. Suddenly a thought entered Jackie's mind and she closed the book with a snap and shot up in her seat._

"_But I guess with Darrin number two the episodes were more…"_

"_I've got a question!" Jackie announced excitedly, cutting off Kitty's answer._

_Behind the camera that was now shooting Jackie, Hyde frowned, "Damn it, Jackie you can't keep interrupting Mom's answers to my questions."_

"_I can when they're boring questions." The brunette retorted._

"_They're not boring."_

"_Uh yeah. They are."_

"_No they're not."_

_As an argument began to breakout Kitty stepped in before it became to out of control, "now hold on, hold on. Steven, honey why don't we give Jackie's question a listen? It could actually be a question that's more interesting._

"_Wait," he said as he started to read between the lines of Kitty's words, "does that mean you think my questions are…"_

"_Boring!" Jackie exclaimed happily before throwing in a triumphant, "Burn!"_

_Frowning slightly Kitty shook her head, "No, no. that's not what I meant." She began to justify, "I just meant that maybe Jackie's question will be interesting enough to spark some more interesting questions from you."_

_Hyde still wasn't quite convinced that that was what Kitty had really meant but he did appreciate her coming up with a pretty believable story. "Fine." He agreed with a grumble and then added, "But if it's not an interesting question, we drop it and Jackie, you've gotta leave the room for the next half hour."_

"_Deal." Jackie was quick to agree as she bounced onto the sofa next to Kitty, the photo album still in her lap; She swiftly smoothed out her hair and sat up a bit straighter, "Okay Steven make sure you get me in the shot too."_

"_Alright." He agreed but in reality had zoomed in so much on Kitty that only Jackie's left arm was in the shot._

"_Okay Mom, I was looking through this photo album. Which by the way could use some more pictures of me in it." Jackie said as she started to set up for her question, even opening up the scrapbook, "And I saw a bunch of baby pictures of Laurie and Eric…"_

_Kitty leaned in closer to Jackie, looking down at the open picture album and her smile stretched, "Oh yes. Weren't they the cutest little babies you'd ever seen?"_

_Now that Kitty was closer to Jackie it forced Hyde to zoom back out and catching on film as Jackie glanced down at the baby pictures again and then shrugged her shoulders. "We'll they're not as cute as I was, but they're not that bad looking either."_

_By the large smile on Kitty's face it was unclear whether she'd heard Jackie's statement or not, she just continued to grin and look at the photos of her babies as babies. Hyde however had heard the statement as was getting tired of this set up slash introduction for a simple question that he was still sure was going to be something dumb like where she bought her maternity clothes._

"_Get on with the question, Jackie." his voice was heard ordering._

"_Right." Jackie nodded and then cleared her throat, sitting up again and leaning forward some towards Kitty as she asked, "Mom, what was it like when you held Laurie and Eric for the first time?"_

"_Damn."_

_A giggle escaped Jackie's lips as she heard her ex-boyfriends mutter before hearing Kitty's voice speak over any other mumbling he may have been saying to himself. She smiled happily and almost excitedly, looking at Jackie rather than the camera and Hyde._

"_Oh Jackie, honey, that is a great question!" she exclaimed and Jackie's proud smile made another appearance; Kitty's own smile grew as she turned back to the camcorder shaking her head lightly before beginning, "Oh I'll never forget that feeling I had when I first held each of my babies in my arms." She finished with a reminiscent grin now in place._

_Jackie watched Kitty, finally feeling that feeling of eagerness to hear her answer to the new question. Her questions really were so much better than Steven's! "Really?"_

_Kitty nodded, still seeming to be off in her own world, "I remember right after Laurie was born, I was still so drowsy and tired from the drugs they'd given me but I was able to hear her first cries and it was one of the most beautiful sounds in the world." _

_Wearing a confused expression on her face Jackie looked at the camera at Hyde who had his own look of perplexity behind the camera._

"_And then later when I woke up I was in my room and Red was already there holding Laurie. He got to be the first to hold her. And at that moment when I first saw him holding her I could already see she had him wrapped around her little finger." the blonde woman on the sofa continued adding in a little giggle and not noticing the looks on her adopted children's faces, "Then when I got to hold her…I just…I couldn't believe that Red and I had made this beautiful little baby." _

"_Laurie was such a precious baby with her blonde baby curls and her big blue eyes. They were always looking around with such wonderment, even on that first day. That's when I knew she's was gonna be one to want to go off and explore and try new things!" _

"_I think you mean go off and explore and try new people, Mom." Hyde corrected with a light snicker._

_The younger woman sent a faintly disapproving look to the camera man—only faintly because she was doing her best not to laugh—before turning her interest back to Kitty, "What about with Eric?"_

_Her smile grew at the question, "With Eric made sure I was the first one to hold him. After being in labor for eight and a half hours I told Red I'd _betterbe_ the first one to hold him. And the second the nurse put my baby boy in my arms I was in love." she shared feeling herself tear up, she smiled and wiped the corner of her eyes fingertips, "You know Eric looked so much like Red when he was a baby."_

_Hyde smirked as he asked, "You mean bald and cranky."_

"_Of course that all passed with time." Kitty stated after nodding her head to Hyde's previous question._

"_Too bad the same can't be said for Red."_

_While Kitty was busy frowning at the camera Jackie realized her question hadn't been exactly been answered. Instead it seemed to have had its words twisted about to make a whole new question. Kitty had said it was a good question hadn't she, so why hadn't she answered it?_

_Determined to get her question answered Jackie repeated herself, "But how did it feel? Were you happy?"_

"_Of course." Kitty said grinning._

"_Did you cry?" Jackie asked._

_Kitty nodded, "Yes, I did."_

_Feeling frustrated and wanting more details Jackie went on, "Did you feel like you had found a pot of old? Did you feel like you had so much love in your heart that you thought it would explode? Did you wanna shout it to the world about how beautiful your baby was?"_

"_Yes. Yes. And yes." She replied her smile growing as she began to explain, "Jackie honey I know I said your question was a good question and I meant it. It is a very good question..."_

"_You said a great question before." The brunette reminded with a pout._

_Laughing Kitty moved her head up and down again, "Right, right. A great question. And it is a great question because it's a question that's not an easy one to answer." she gave a short pause and then began to clarify herself, "The way I felt the first time I held both Eric and Laurie for the first time, I could never sum that up in one word. I don't think I could sum it up in one page. When I held them in my arms for the first time I felt a feeling that I don't think I could ever put into words but one I'll never forget."_

_0o0o0o_

"You know, Red's never really one to follow what anyone tells him to do, especially when he wants to do the opposite." Jackie said aloud to Angie as the two of them walked down the snow covered pathway from The Forman's front door, "But I guess there are to voices he always listens to, Kitty and Laurie's. But I guess this time he's more concerned about protecting her than listening to her…Guess some father's do those kinds of things for their daughters." She said as she suddenly thought of her own father and the not so close relationship she had with him, then again it was better than the one she had with Pam.

Angela smiled lightly, "I'm sure your voice is on that list too, Jackie and even if it's not I'm sure Mr. Forman would try and protect you the same way."

"Oh yeah, I know it is." Jackie said with a matter of fact kind of tone, "I'm his favorite after all."

The two women shared a small laugh as the continued down the trail walking at a slower pace and not so they would lower their chance of slipping in the cold slush.

"So how is Mom?" asked a concerned Jackie, as good of a time as she had getting out of the house and spending time alone with Eric, she did feel bad about not being there when Angela was checking up on her surrogate mother, "Sorry I wasn't there today while you were checking her. Brooke and I had gone grocery shopping and then Eric and I put everything away." She explained, holding back the urge to ask where the nurse stored her peanut butter.

"That's fine, don't worry. Steven and Mr. Forman were there and of course Mrs. Forman. And I even got to meet the famous Lucy." Angie shared stilling smiling, "She really is a sweet child."

Jackie nodded, "She is, isn't she? But…but how's Mom?"

"Well I increased her morphine intake a tad pit more as she requested. There was also some talk about ways to help her be able to stay in bed from now on." Angela informed going into nurse mode and summing up the recent visit she's had with Kitty. "She told me there were a few more aches in her body, which is from being in bed for so long its normal for bedsores to form. I also made a few suggestions about some light foods she may want to try just to help her body gain some strength. Things like unbuttered toast…I left a list on the nightstand in her room."

Again Jackie nodded but this time her eyes seemed to be focused on something in the street as Angela went on.

"Overall, I would say that Mrs. Forman is, well she's…"

"She's getting even worse…isn't she?" The brunette finished for her.

Looking at the jeweled colored eyes that were now staring straight at her allowing her to see the worried and fearful unshed tears in them, Angela felt horrible. It was times like this that she wished her childhood dream career had been something that didn't involve bad news, something like the career her friends had dreamed of. Like becoming an astronaut.

The nurse took in a deep breath before moving her head up and down, "It's what's expected in these situations, Jackie."

"I know, I know." The younger of the two repeated, as she brought her hand up to rub her eye, "I guess I'm just kinda hoping one day you'll visit and tell us she's improved and she's gonna get better. I guess we're all sort of hoping that."

"Yes, we are." Angela agreed with another nod of her head.

Two faint smiles were then exchanged by the two women.

And though Angela knew she couldn't give Jackie the news that she wanted to hear or the new she, herself, wanted to give, she still had a few positive points she could make, "But you know, for a woman who's going through all that she's going through, Mrs. Forman is actually doing very, very well."

"Really?"

"Yes. Mrs. Forman isn't my first patient who's been this ill. I've had patients before who would increase their morphine at least three times a day to help with their pain. Mrs. Forman only seems to increase it whenever I'm here and even then it's never by very much." She paused frowning some as a possibility came to her, "I suppose it could be because she was a nurse and knows what kind of side effects come from the drugs, but still she's managing to go through her pain on a low dose of morphine when really she could have just about as much as she wanted. That's quite impressive."

A proud smile began to appear on Jackie's lips as she heard Angela's speech.

"I've also had patients that who fall into comas and never wake up. And some patients I've taken care of are as if they're living in their own little world, a world in their past. Most of them can hardly recognize their own children." She continued on before remembering to make another point, one that wasn't as positive, "Now, I'm not saying that none of this will happen to Mrs. Forman nor am I saying that all of those things will happen to her because I don't know. Only time will tell."

"But what I am saying is that right now Mrs. Forman is a strong woman who still hasn't given in and instead is still trying to fight this disease from taking over completely. After all she's alert, she knows who you all are. She may sleep a lot but again that's a normal side effect for her medicine. She still talks about each of you constantly and she knows almost everything that's going on in her house. And from what I've heard there's a whole lot of things going on in there."

Assuming that Angela had learned of all the events going on in the house from Kitty, Jackie wrapped her arms around her shivering form as she spoke softly, "Yeah, even more than she thinks."

While Kitty had been informed of most of the big events happening that had happened during the last few days in The Forman house, things Like Laurie returning and having Fez's child, Hyde and his 'secret' crush on Angela, she even knew about Fez and Kelso getting stick in the washer and dryer; however as far as Jackie knew Kitty had no clue to what was going on with her and Eric and their exes.

"Are you planning on telling her?" Angela suddenly asked.

Jackie's brow furrowed with confusion, "Telling her what?"

"About the things she doesn't know about yet." She continued but that only seemed to make Jackie's frown deepen so she added, "About the tension that's built up between you and Eric and Hyde and Donna."

"How do you know about that?"

"Steven might have mentioned what happened the other night when you and Eric were caught kissing in the kitchen, earlier when we were talking." She informed, hoping she'd made the right call in bringing the subject up.

The instant she saw Jackie's confusion fade and become socked and angry she realized her hopes had been dashed.

"Oh he did, did he?" a wide eyed Jackie asked, already knowing the answer, "Well did he also mention his own reaction and how he said if he'd known what was going on he would have put a stop to it?" her fury was building up more and more she didn't even wait for an answer, "Can you believe that? He wanted to put a stop to something in my life. Something that doesn't even concern him!"

Angela shifted nervously as Jackie continued on with her rant.

"We've been broken up for over three years and he thinks he can control _my_ life! And let me tell you, when we were together he didn't even try to control my life, back then I was the control-y!" she declared with a raised index finger, "I bet he didn't mention any of _this,_ did he?"

"Well not exactly but…" Angela began but was cut off.

"I thought so." Jackie muttered while re-crossing her arms out of anger and not to protect her form the cold as she'd done before, "Just like I bet he didn't tell you anything about him being married to a stripper!"

A scowl appeared on Angela's forehead at this new piece of information, "A stripper?"

Jackie gave a firm nod, "A bleach blonde bimbo stripper."

"Bleach blonde…" Angela started to say but quickly reminded herself that she'd opened the wound and now need to help bandage it; she shook her head of the thoughts of Steven being married to a stripper before she spoke up again, "Jackie, I really shouldn't have said anything but I did because I really do think you should talk to Steven and hear him out…"

"Hear him out?" she repeated in an exclaiming, scoffing tone of voice, "On what? On the plans he has for me on how to run my life? Did he come up with a new plan, one that fits Eric now? because that would really be so helpful!" her last statement leaking with sarcasm and anger.

Angela sighed while pushing a strand of hair behind her ear, "Jackie, it really isn't my place to say…." She began to say but then realized how dumb that sounded, if it wasn't her place to say—which it still wasn't—she shouldn't have said anything. But she did. And she couldn't just leave with Jackie this angry it would do no good for anyone, "I just figured you all were trying to patch things up with each other without having Mrs. Forman find out and it upsetting her. I was only trying to help."

Hearing this caused the wheels in Jackie's mind to start turning. She wanted to help? Maybe she could…she said she and Steven had talked earlier and they were obviously getting closer…maybe Angela could talk to Steven for her. Steven wouldn't get mad at her if he really liked her. Or maybe she could just be in the room when Jackie sat down to have her talk with Steven, that could work too.

"Well maybe you could help. Like maybe you could…" before Jackie could finish sharing her idea of Angela standing between her and Steven when she talked to him, Angela interjected with her one idea."

"The only help I think I can do is give some advice." She began, "And that's just to remember that every time you assume you make an ass out of you and me. Only this time it you and Steven."

With that said Angela turned around and headed to her parked vehicle leaving Jackie to stand there and think over her words.

A frown crept up onto Jackie's face, she wasn't assuming anything. Was she? No, of course not, Steven had said in his own words that he would have put a stop to what was going on with her and Eric if he had know what was going on. He's even said he was the one who controlled her life…wait had he actually said that last part?

"Just give him a chance to explain." Angela called out, breaking Jackie form her thoughts.

Jackie looked up and saw Angela climbing into her car. She couldn't let her leave like this. Angela could be right and maybe Jackie had done some assuming and maybe she didn't need to just talk to Steven but she needed to hear what he had to say to. It might still not work out very well and they might still end the conversation still mad at each other but it would be nothing compared to how angry Steven would be if he found out she had broken one of their golden rules and told Angela about…her.

"Angela, wait!" the younger woman hurried over to the driver's side of the car, despite not being dressed in any warm winter attire, and waited for Angela to roll down the window, "You know she wasn't really a bleach blonde bimbo stripper."

"She wasn't a stripper?"

"No she was." Jackie answered without missing a beat, "She was also a bimbo, blonde, and a whore." She paused having to remind herself of the point she was trying make, "But she wasn't really bleach blonde. It looked kinda natural."

When she saw that Angela still didn't appear to be any more relieved Jackie went on.

"And Steven only married her because he thought Michael I did something, that we totally didn't do, and he drove off to Vegas and got really, really drunk." She explained and then made sure to add in another important detail, "But they weren't really married. It turned out that she was already married to some old guy…This isn't helping any is it?"

Still not able to believe that something like this had actually happened in real life Angela shook her head, "No. No, I'm afraid not. I'll see you later, Jackie."

Moving a few steps away from the car and further into the middle of the street Jackie waved her had as she watched Angela's car drive away from the house. She did feel bad about bringing up something Steven had tried to bury behind him but she did try to fix and make it sound better, no one could say she didn't try.

0o0o0o

Red Forman marched into the kitchen ready to forget his plan of eavesdropping through the door and instead throw up that same door and go straight down into that basement even if it did upset his daughter. He wished that she would understand that he was doing it for her and Lucy. It wasn't because he didn't trust or think she could do it on her own because he did; it was that damn sneaky foreigner who'd gotten her pregnant in the first place that he didn't trust. Sure, Red knew it took two to tango but he was almost positive it had been Tattoo who had been the one asking for the dance. And if he did any denying of that dance or say or do anything of the sorts, Red was going to teach him a new kind of dance—one that ended with Red's foot up his ass.

Just as he reached the shut door Red began to have second thoughts. Maybe he should at least give the eavesdropping thing a try. He might be able to hear a lot more than he thought he would. And it would save his from making a scene and most importantly keep Laurie from getting mad at him.

With that last thought in mind, he grabbed onto the doorknob, turned it to the side, and was about to push it open when he remembered that sporadic squeak of the basement door. He didn't want to take the chance of that squeak being made and giving him away, however that didn't mean he was giving up either. There was always Plan B.

Letting go of the handle Red slumped his shoulder slightly, craned his neck slightly, and pressed his ear against the teeny tiny crack between the shut door and the molding of the doorway. He was so preoccupied with trying to make out any kind of sound coming from the lower level of the house that he never noticed the figure behind him come in from the dinning room entrance. But the figure saw him and quickly caught onto what he was up to; crossing their arms across their chest, they smirked.

"Red, what're you doing?" was the question asked and a laugh had to be held in when they saw Red startle and jump a bit.

As soon as Red turned around and saw who it was standing behind him he scowled, "Damn it, Steven." He growled, "What the hell are you trying to do? Give me another heart attack?"

"Sorry, man." The younger man apologized but kept his smirk in place, "What're you doing?"

"Uh…nothing, nothing." Red lied. It was bad enough Jackie had figured out what he was going to do, he didn't need anyone else knowing, at least not before Jackie spilled the beans to them, but that meant he needed an excuse—fast. "I was just um…checking, checking for terminates by uh…"

"Listening to the walls?" Hyde finished for him, his smirk growing into a small smile as he shrugged his shoulders, "Guess it's better than catching you talking to them."

The frown Red wore deepened as he stared at his adopted son, "What are you doing down here? I thought you were talking to Kitty."

"I was but she fell asleep so I left so she could get some rest." He informed and seeing the concern in Red's face he went on to add, "Don't worry, she's' fine. Said she was tired from her medication. And this time I made sure she was really asleep."

Knowing that Hyde had found out about Kitty's fake sleeping idea, Red couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

Hyde gave a small smile as swell but tried to hide it by shaking his head, "Man, I can't believe you went along with the whole thing."

"Steven, she got her way before she was sick, what made you think any of that was gonna change now?"

"Yeah, you've got a point." He agreed, uncrossing his arms and bringing his left hand up to scratched the back of his neck, "So did you uh walk Angie out?"

"No, I had Jackie do it."

Not giving it much thought of having Angela out there talking to his ex-girlfriend since they had talked many times before, Hyde gave a simple nod of his head, "Oh. And Lucy's with Laurie?"

"Yeah." Red replied with his own nod and moved just an inch or two closer to the spot he'd been trying to listen through.

Catching his movements made Hyde's smirk reappear. He'd already put the pieces together and figure out that Red was trying to eavesdrop on the conversation going on in the basement and since he was never really interested in the rest of them Hyde knew Laurie or Lucy had to be down there, of course now he'd found out it was both of them. Still, despite already knowing that this was what his surrogate father was up to Hyde wanted to hear it from the man himself an din the meantime he could have some fun with it.

"Hey Red, you want me to go check out the Vista Cruiser with you right now?" he asked knowing very well of the father figure's determination to fix that old dinosaur of a car, "Since Mom's asleep and neither one of us is doing anything. I mean you gotta be done checking for termites now and I was thinking maybe you should try checking the..."

"Yeah, yeah, maybe later, Steven." Red said not looking at Hyde as he spoke the words but at the basement door. He was beginning to worry that he was missing it all.

With his smirk still playing on his lips, Hyde continued to pester the older man knowing very well that he wanted him gone so he could go back to spying on the conversation he had not been invited to be a part of. He flattened his smirk as best he could while trying to remain serious as he began to talk again, "Red, man, you know you don't have to talk to walls. If you need to talk to someone about all this stuff with Mom you can talk to me or Jackie or…"

"Oh shut up." Red ordered wearing a scowl on his face, now he knew Hyde was just messing with him and he didn't have time for any messing around. "Laurie's down there introducing Lucy to Chico and she wouldn't let me go down there with her because she wanted to do it on her own. So I'm staying out here to make sure I don't have to clear up a space on the wall in my den for a mounted foreigner head."

After letting out a short chortle at the image that formed in his mind of Fez's head hanging in Red's den with the familiar frightened look still plastered on his face, Hyde decided his father could use some reassurance if not for his sake, for Fez's.

"Red, he's not gonna hurt either one of them." He started to say, "I mean this is Fez. The same guy who side steps ants so he won't step on them because he thinks the ant has a wife and kids and two pet larva waiting at home for it."

That didn't seem to help very much and it definitely wasn't making the point that Hyde was hoping it would. A almost horrified expression had appeared on Red's face as he realized that guy was the father of his grandchild.

Noting the look Hyde swiftly added, "Hey it could've been worse, Red. Could've been Kelso."

"True." Red soon agreed, "The keys to the car on the counter, I'll be out there in a few minutes."

Hyde turned his head to look at the ring of keys resting on the counter top but then turned back to Red, watching him go back to his listening spot, "Nah I think I'll hang around here a bit." He said in his zen tone of voice, "I missed the first act but I wouldn't mind catching the radio version of the second half."

Red straightened himself out and looked at Steven in a very stern manner, "This isn't some damn matinee. Steven. I'm not doing this for entertainment. I'm doing this to help protect my daughter and granddaughter.

" I know." Hyde nodded and then started to walk farther away from Red and closer to cabinets of the kitchen and opening one of the cupboards, "Which is why I figured you'd need one of these."

When Hyde swung himself back around he revealed to Red the two tall drinking glasses in each of his hands. Walking back to him, Hyde handed one of the glasses out to him and Red reluctantly took it frowning at it a bit confused. Soon though the message of what he was supposed to do was very apparent when he saw Hyde place the top part of the glass against the kitchen wall and then place his against the opposite. Without another word, Red mirrored his son's actions and was surprised to find that with this simple daisy etched glass he could hear things in the next room almost as clearly as he would if he were in the room himself.

0o0o0o

"Aye, she'd going to hate me, I know it." A heartbroken Fez cried to his friends who were still seated beside him on the basement sofa while their daughter contently finished eating her candy bar.

Brooke was the first to try to comfort him again, "Honey, she's not going to hate you. She's a little girl. Little girls don't hate anything except, bugs, dirt, and broccoli."

"Hey those are the same things you hate, buddy." Kelso pointed out before reaching a conclusion he eagerly shared with the room, "That makes you a little girl. Burn!"

As soon as the word left his mouth, Kelso received a very scary looking glare from his wife which caused his large dopey grin to disappear as he looked down with shame and muttered a barely audible, "Sorry" to his best friend.

Shaking her head, the young woman continued, "You're her father, Fez. Every little girl loves her daddy."

"But she does not know I am her daddy." The foreigner was swift to remind, "I am a stranger to her not a daddy. I was not there to hold her or read stories to her or sing her to sleep. I was not there to see her first steps. I did not do any of those daddy things."

Her heart went out to the man sitting next to her and Brooke tried desperately to make him feel better or at least get him to smile—it was almost scary seeing such a distressed Fez—"Fez, those things don't make you a father. And if you really wanted to, you could still do all those things with Lucy….well expect for the first steps thing. But Michael didn't get to see Betsy's first steps but you know Betsy still adores him."

Fez furrowed his brow slightly as he thought over Brooke words, never noticing the frown that had formed on Kelso's own forehead behind him.

"Hey! I was there for Betsy's first steps!" he protested firmly, "I taped it and everything…well upside down but still!" in the middle of his argument he soon realized his wife had only said that to help Fez feel better. "Oh. You were trying to…Oh."

While husband and wife exchanged looks, Fez stood up from the sofa and headed for the side door of the basement.

"I have to go." He said sounding as if his mind were elsewhere and his words had come out as an instinct.

Brooke stood up but didn't follow him, "Fez, don't go."

"Yeah, man, don't go, cuz if you go and Laurie comes down here and finds you gone she's gonna get mad." Kelso started to explain, "And I've seen Laurie mad and…and I don't wanna go through that again." The memory of an angry Laurie flooded his mind and the tall pretty man became shaken up, "I _won't_ go through it again!"

Holding his jacket in one hand and his other hand grabbing onto the door knob of the exit, Fez turned around to see Brooke rubbing her palm on his frightened friend's arm as effort to comfort and soothe him.

"I will be back." He told the couple, "I just…if I want Lucy to love me and not hate me…I'm going to need a lot more _Hershey_ bars. I'm going to the Gas-N-Go. I shall be back."

"Fez, wait, man." Kelso called out stopping the foreign man from stepping through the now open door and causing him to turn and look his way, "You think while you're there you can get me one of those foot long hotdogs they have there?"

Long strands of brown hair flew in the air as Brooke whipped her head around to glare at her husband, "Michael!"

"What?! He was going there anyways! God, Brooke!" Kelso exclaimed in a very Kelso like fashion.

After letting out a small but clearly frustrated sigh, Brooke stepped away from Kelso and walked closer to where Fez was standing. In a very gentle manner, and without saying a word, she took his hand off the door and into her own hand and then pushed it shut before leading him back over to the couch. She aided him into a seat before taking one herself.

"Fez, buying more candy for her isn't going to make Lucy love you more…" she began to say before getting interrupted once again.

"I don't know Brooke." Kelso said, ready to share his thoughts, "I mean the Fezs do love their candy."

Wearing a shy smile, Fez nodded his head, "That is true."

Obviously irritated by the constant interruptions and pointless comments, Brooke was ready to kick Kelso out of the room but decided to do it in a nicer, less obvious way. Looking up at him she began her plan, "Michael, why don't you take Betsy upstairs to watch some cartoons up there on the bigger television set."

"But I'm helping." He replied sounding hurt and wearing a small pout.

"I don't think you are, sweetie."

"Yeah, I am. Look watch." Kelso said determined to prove her wrong, he walked behind the sofa and then kneeled down propping his elbows on the back of the furniture and grinning largely at his grim looking pal, "Hey Fez, man, remember that time I dropped my wedding ring in the toilet and got my hand stuck in there when I tired to get it out?"

A tiny smile cracked onto Fez's lips, "Yes."

As the memory came back to the two men it became harder and harder to hold in their laughs and soon they were laughing right out with some good ol' belly laughs. Meanwhile Brooke sat there with confusion written all over her face. She had so many questions, one of them being how the heck did Michael's wedding ring end up in the toilet and why was this the first she was hearing of it? However, she knew that wasn't important now and decided to focus her attention on a another question.

"Michael, what was the point of telling that story?" she asked.

"I made him laugh." He said shrugging as if it were simple, "I helped."

Fez nodded, "He did help a little."

"Well I'm happy to hear that. Though I'm not so happy about the actual story." She said her smile flattening when she looked over at Kelso for a second or two, "Do you mind if I try to help to?"

Seeing the timid head shake Brooke smiled slightly.

"This isn't really about you being worried about Lucy hating you because you know she won't. And you're not worried about not having enough candy either." Brooke started and when she didn't hear any objections she went on, "You're worried about being a father. About being a good one."

The brown puppy dog eyes of Fez became wide with fear as he stared at Brooke and nodded his head rapidly, "Yes, yes, yes. It's all happening so fast! I'm…I'm scared."

"I'm sure." She said sympathetically placing a claming hand over his trembling one, "Michael and I at least had nine months to help prepare ourselves to become parents. You've had less than an hour."

An envious frown made its way to Fez's face, "You bastards."

"Wait a minute, Fez. You're not really worried about being a dad, are you?" Kelso asked once again joining in on the conversation.

"Yes." The other man nodded, now feeling more than a bit embarrassed.

"That's crazy!" Kelso exclaimed and it seemed like with just those two little words Fez's nerves were put at ease, "I mean if I can be a great dad then you're gonna be like an awesome dad!" he continued but paused to think over what he'd just said and how they were somewhat incorrect, "Well more like a great dad like me….well maybe not as great as me but almost."

Instead of being hurt or upset by Kelso's words Fez found himself agreeing with them as he nodded along understandingly while Kelso rambled on.

"Plus we're gonna be Daddy Buddies, remember? And our daughters are gonna be best friends just like us. And we can have Daddy Daughter Days where we can take them to the park and the carnival and the petting zoo…well the ones I'm still allowed in." he added sleepishly, "Oo! And Sunday's can be Sundae Days when we can go for ice cream!"

By this time both men were wearing very large matching smiles and Brooke didn't have the heart to point out to them that Lucy lived with Laurie in Madison not Chicago.

"Oh I bet the girls would love having ice cream every Sunday." Fez stated, showing his interest in Kelso's ideas.

"Hey yeah, we could take them too!" Kelso nodded eagerly.

Fez looked up at his friend, "Thank you, Kelso. Thank you too, Brooke." He smiled more, showing his relaxation, "I am feeling much better."

"I'm glad." Brooke said with her own smile.

"Me too." Kelso agreed but as a thought dawned on him he realized maybe he wasn't as glad as he thought he was, "But you know, there's still that chance she might still laugh at you. So maybe you should go get those extra candy bars as a back up."

Fear set itself back into Fez's eyes, "You're right, Kelso."

Kelso grinned as he watched Fez stand back up and head back towards the door he had tried to escape through minutes ago, "And don't forget my hotdog!"

"Michael!" his wife screeched out.

"What? I'm hungry!" came his weak defense.

While Brooke began to scold her man child of a husband, Fez started to sneak out the back door when suddenly a new voice brought him to a halt.

"Fez? Where're you going?"

Silence filled the room as the foreigner turned around and saw Laurie walk down the last two steps of the basement staircase. He wondered how much of his conversation with The Kelsos she had heard but he immediately stopped wondering when his attention became focused on something else. The little girl in her arms.

Though she had some of her face hidden in Laurie's neck, Fez could still see that she was a beautiful little girl. She definitely took after her mother and for that he was very grateful but there was still a happy flutter in his stomach when he saw that she really did have his eyes. She looked so sweet and innocent he knew he couldn't just leave her—even if it was to get her more candy—his heart had been captured.

"No where." He answered and then shut the door, "No where at all."

"Good." Laurie said in a small voice as she began to step further into the basement and closer to Fez who had also began to move closer to the sitting area in the room, "Fez, this is Lucy." She began and then looked down at her little girl, "And Lucy, I want you meat someone very, very special."

Father and daughter stared at each other; one pair of eyes filled with amazement and the other seemed to show fear. Finally Fez managed to snap himself out of his trance as he recognized the fact that Laurie had left it to him to tell Lucy he was her father.

He smiled at her, "Hello, Lucy. I…I am…I have candy, would you like some?"

Loosing his nerve to break the big news to her, Fez reached down and grabbed the _Hershey_ bar off the round table and handed it to Little Lucy. But the little girl made no grab for the chocolate or any other kind of movement, in fact she only seemed to stare back at Fez while clinging tighter to her mother, looking to be on the verge of tears.

Fez caught the glimpse of the trembling lower lip and quickly began to panic, "No, no, please don't cry. Or laugh at me. I… you don't have to take the candy."

"Geeze, the kid didn't take the candy?" Kelso said from the sidelines, "Maybe she's not really Fez's kid."

"I'll take it, Uncle Fez!" Betsy happily shouted as she threw her hand in the air.

Brooke could feel her face getting hot from her family's actions, quickly she tried to excuse themselves out of the room, "Um I think we should probably go. This is really is more of a family moment."

"Oh okay, babe." Kelso agreed, "I'll catch up with you and Betsy later."

"Michael."

He frowned, "What me too? That's not fair!"

"No, no. Please stay." Fez said cutting into the mini squabble, watching as Laurie sat herself and Lucy down on the couch before sitting down himself, "You are my family and so you are her family too."

Brooke was touched by the statement and smiled while Kelso showed that he had also been touched but in a much more Kelso like way.

"Alright, we get to stay!" he exclaimed with a fist pump.

"_Damn it! Kettlehead gets to be down there and I don't?!"_ a familiar voice seeped through the walls and into the basement.

Instantly recognizing the voice Laurie scowled, "Daddy!"

She waited a few good seconds to make sure there were no other remarks from her father. She hoped he had stopped listening in on the conversation but had a good hunch that he hadn't; releasing a small sigh at the thought she looked at Lucy who she had scooted off her lap and onto the cushion of the couch. Even though she didn't want to rush this, with her father listening in she knew it would only be a matter of time before he was down here threatening Fez with a foot up the ass. And it didn't look liked Fez was going to be able to tell Lucy himself so that left her with the job.

"Lucy, baby," she said in a soft voice, "this is your daddy."

"Daddy?" she repeated as she stared back at him.

"Yes, yes, that is me. Hello." He said a bit awkwardly, "I am sorry that I have missed some big things in your life but I will make up for each of them with a new candy bar. Your mommy says your favorite is _Hershey_ bars." He grabbed the _Hershey_ bar once again, "Here, you can have this one now. You don't have to eat it now if you don't want to."

Gradually Lucy reached out her little hand and grabbed the candy bar from Fez.

"I like candy." She shared with him in a little voice that sounded even lower with her looking down at the candy.

Fez smiled, "I like candy too. I always have some with me."

Lucy's head shot up and her eyes filled with wonderment, "Always?"

"Always."

There was another moment of silence as Lucy appeared to be thinking over the words she'd just heard. At last she looked up from her candy and back at her father.

"Then I like you." She informed with a nod of her head before she moved herself farther away from Laurie and closer to Fez.

Fez hadn't expected to have his little girl sitting so close to him so soon and he definitely didn't expect her to climb onto his lap and make herself comfortable, but that's just what she did. And Fez couldn't think of anything that felt better at least not until he wrapped his own arms around Lucy and got to hug and hold her for the first time. That feeling…that feeling was indescribable.

Once he'd unwrapped his arms from her, but kept one arm behind her, Lucy quickly went to work on trying to open her _Hershey_ bar. She seemed to be having a bit of trouble and so it was Daddy Fez to the rescue.

"Here let me help you." He said taking the candy bar into his hands and making a slit in the wrapper, "You tear it at the corner and then pull it this way, see? And instead of taking big bites you should break up the pieces into the mini _Hershey_ bars that are there."

Lucy watched in fascination as the man whose lap she sat on cut the big _Hershey_ bar into little ones that were perfectly shaped—not even Mommy could do that!

Fez placed a few of the candy pieces into Lucy's small hand and continued with his candy lesson, "Now your candy will last longer and you can even save some of it for later or share it." He paused before adding in a another valid point, "But you don't have to share it. Candy is very important and should only be shared with people who are important to you. People you love."

The little girls eyes went from Fez to the candy to Fez again as she connected what it was he was trying to tell her.

"Candy for Lucy." She said placing one of the small chocolate pieces on her lap and taking another, reaching out to put it on Laurie's lap, "Candy for Mommy." She paused almost hesitantly, before grabbing Fez's hand and placing a mini _Hershey_ bar in his palm, "Candy for Daddy."

Being called Daddy for the first time almost made Fez brake into tears but he managed to hold it together as she smiled at his daughter, "Thank you." He looked across the couch to her mother and repeated, "Thank you."

With tears brimming at her eyes Laurie smiled and nodded in reply.

The spectators also found themselves a bit chocked up, "Isn't that sweet, Michael?"

"Yeah." Kelso agreed before letting his smile shrink and crossing his arms over his chest, "Still wish I would have gotten that hotdog though."

Brooke only shook her head at his words before going back to watching the sweet scene in front of her.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **And that would be Chapter 48 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Will Red join the others in the basement? Will Jackie follow Angie's advice and give Hyde the chance to explain? Will Angie want Hyde to explain about his fake stripper wife? Will Lucy get to be part of the Daddy Daughter Days? Will she leave back to Madison with Laurie? And will Kelso ever get his hotdog? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	50. He Sounded Like That Anyway

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello All! Long time no see huh? Well for this story anyways! How are you all doing? Hope you're well. I am so so very sorry for taking so long to update this stor but school work and then holiday stories sort of got in the way but as a said last month I have for you a new chapter! And you can expect some more new chapters in the near future. I didn't get as ahead as I would have liked but I'm still at least a chapter ahead so if I can manage my time and posting periods correctly, I think we'll be okay and this story can get moving again. That is of course if you all want this story to be moving again. I know it's been along time since this story was updated and an even longer time since it first started but I hope it still has some readers following. And I want to thank all of you readers who have stuck by the story, reviewed, added to your favorites, and alerts. It really means so much! You all are the reason why I'm continuing this story now! And a special thanks to MidniteRaine for his advice on the Donna and Eric stuff, Thanks JB! Okay you all have waited long enough so let me just say, thanks again for everything, hope you enjoy this chapter, please review if you can, signed in or unsigned old or new readers I would love to hear your thoughts and please, Enjoy!_

* * *

"_What was your first boyfriend like?"_

_Hyde scowled immediately after hearing the question before moving the camera off his surrogate mother and over to his ex-girlfriend who was also seated on the sofa, "Jackie, this is supposed to be a video about Mom's life not some chick flick thing filled with romance."_

"_I know this video is about Mom and her life." Jackie replied in an argumentative tone, "But don't you think romance is a big part of her life?"_

"_No." Hyde answered back almost too quickly. His replied caused Kitty's eyes to widen in shock and when Hyde saw this from the lens of camera he quickly tried to correct himself or she might just decide to fire him and adding Jackie as the interviewer, "Uh I mean…not any more…not that…I …damn it."_

_Kitty nodded her head at his muttered words, "That's right. And I'll have you know that Jackie is right." She said to catching Jackie straighten herself with pride, "romance has played a pretty big part in my life, both when I was younger and even today."_

_Frowning with confusion Hyde pointed out, "But you're married to Red."_

"_Yes, I am and Red is very romantic."_

"_Red Forman?" he asked, scowl still in place._

"_Yes, Red Forman." she replied shaking her head slightly at the way he was still doubting her; however, her smile slowly began to reappear as he went on, "Red can be a very romantic man when he wants to be…or more when I want him to be." She let out a little giggle. "It may not be every day that he does some big romantic thing or whispers something sweet to me but I think that's part of what makes it even more romantic when he finally does take the time to do it."_

_Nodding his head with a smirk, because that sounded more like the Red Forman he knew, Hyde suddenly thought of another question, "So what's the most romantic thing Red's ever done for you?"_

_Before Kitty could even open her mouth to begin to give her answer to the question, the younger woman who Hyde had been trying to keep out of the video spoke up—and got back into the shot of the camera—once more, sounding quite upset as she did._

"_Hey, you skipped my question!" she stated._

_Hyde didn't flinch, "So?"_

"_So I want Mom to answer my question first."_

"_Jackie, your question is pointless." He argued from behind the camera, "We know what her first boyfriend was like. He's Red, we…"_

"_No he wasn't." Kitty interjected Hyde's statement with the correct information; seeing the looks on her children's faces she continued, "Red was not my first boyfriend." _

"_Really?" _

_Both Jackie and Hyde asked together, however with much different tones. Jackie sounded excited and intrigued as if she were hearing the latest piece of Point Place gossip. Hyde meanwhile, sounded almost fearful and maybe even a bit queasy, he'd always seen Red and Kitty together…he could imagine them with other people even if it was before they'd met each other. It just felt wrong. Besides finding out things about your mother's love life not exactly something on a son's—adopted or not—to do list._

"_That's right. I had a few boyfriends before I even met Red." She shared with them, "And even a few while I was with him."_

_Jackie's eyes widened at this new piece of information and Hyde managed to dip his head and cover his own eyes, while still keeping the video camera filming and steady. Catching the two diverse reactions, Kitty held in a laugh and knew she had a bit of explaining to do._

"_Now it wasn't anything like that." She began to say, "It was during the time that Red was in Korea and they weren't really boyfriends they were just…suitors…admirers…other soldiers that I would write too."_

"_So you were a tease?" Jackie asked._

_Hyde let out another unhappy groan but went unheard by the gabbing women._

"_No, no, no, I wasn't a tease. That just something you did in those days. Young women were always writing to handfuls of young soldiers. Those men were overseas risking their lives to keep us safe at home, writing those letters was the least we could do. It was like our contribution to the war. Some of those soldiers had no one back home and so getting a little letter from a woman back home that he'd met once at a dance was important, it kept him going."_

"_I remember Red telling me how important those letter from home were to him." Kitty started to share, "He said when he read the letters it allowed him to escape and kept his mind off the war even if it was for only a short while. Which was why we never discussed what was going on over there in our letters."_

_Her smile stretched as she began to recall some of those old love letters, "You know, the letters I wrote to those other solider were only about a page or two but the ones I wrote to Red." She laughed lightly, "Those were filled with a hundred 'I miss you's and a thousand 'I love you's and that's not even counting the little things that happened to me that week that I would ramble on about to him. By the time I was done the letters would be pages long. but I always loved writing those letter to Red and of course his letters were always my favorite to receive. They were never very long because of course he didn't have as much time to write as I did. But they let me know he was alright…he was alive. Oh and he used to write the sweetest things." _

"_You still have those letters?" Hyde curiously asked._

_Kitty nodded, "Up in the attic in with Red's old war things."_

"_Hey!" Jackie interrupted, not sounding very happy as she did so, "You skipped over my question."_

"_Ooops." Hyde replied not sounding very sincere—plus that smirk he wore on his lips wasn't helping much._

_The brunette glared in his direction before turning her attention over to Kitty, she asked again, "Mom. Who was your first boyfriend and what was he like?"_

"_Hey, hey, hey!" Hyde cut in this time, "That's two questions."_

"_Ooops." Jackie repeated in a small mocking voice, she didn't see why he was being fussy about it, it was practically the same question, "You skipped over my question to ask your own question so that means I get a free question."_

"_My first boy friend was George Munson." Kitty answered the first part of the question, her voice starting off louder and then slowly going back to normal, her attempt to keep the incoming argument between the pair from happening—it worked. "We went to school together and I was sixteen when he asked me out on our first date. I remember because sixteen was the age that parents had allowed me to date. George had asked me out a few times before but I had to tell him no. Then a few days after my sixteen birthday he asked me out and of course I said yes, he took me out on a little belated birthday date."_

"_He was such a sweet young man too and a football player at our high school too, so he was very strong." She continued, "But he was also very respectful and really sort of shy when it was just the two of us—which I thought was adorable."_

_Jackie tilted her head slightly, "So why didn't it work out?"_

"_Well he was my first boyfriend, Jackie. My first relationship and those things don't last. Well sometimes they do." She corrected herself, "But most of the time they don't and that's okay. Past relationships, especially that first one, play an important part of your life. They help teach you things that you couldn't learn on your own or even from friends or family; things about life and yourself."_

"_The relationships you had with your ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend are like stepping stones, helping lead you to your future husband or wife. It's like if I had never dated George I might not have met Red…or maybe I would have met him but I might not have been the same person I was when I met him, the person who loved him and who loved me. Every failed relationship, no matter how much heartbreak it gave you, is one you should be grateful for."_

_Hyde had a feeling she had put in some hidden message there for him and Jackie—and he was sure Jackie did too—but he pretended he hadn't noticed, "This Munson guy break your heart?"_

"_Oh no." Kitty shook her head, "No. I dumped him. I was never the dumpee, I was the dumper." She suddenly frowned, "that didn't come out right, did it?" she asked and received a chortle from her adopted son as her answer._

_0o0o0o_

When Donna had first asked Eric if she could talk to him alone she hadn't expected them to go outside and talk in the driveway, but in a full house like The Forman House currently was the driveway seemed to be the most closest private place available. And just like she hadn't expected them to go outside she in no way had predicted to be sitting beside him in their old spot on the hood of the Vista Cruiser, but that's where they were now.

It had just sort of happened—Donna couldn't even recall who was the first one to sit down. They'd silently walked out of the house and off the back porch onto the cement of the driveway, the immobile car was parked in the middle of it and like a kind of reflex they sat themselves on the cold hood. It's been years since they'd sat together in that spot and while it had that nice, familiar almost, nostalgic feeling there was a great feeling of differences between then and now. Back then the time spent on the Cruiser's hood was mostly playful and loving moments, sometimes a bit serious but never awkward like it felt now.

They'd been sitting on the vehicle for what felt like months, neither one saying a word because they weren't quite sure who should speak first. Since Donna's eyes seemed to be fixated on her old house, Eric kept his own eyes focused down on his hands.

"You know, I'm surprised you didn't take the Cruiser with you to Seattle." Donna said, breaking the silence with small talk, "Every time I would come visit your mom and see it parked in the driveway part of me always kind expected to find you here."

He looked up and nodded before giving a small shrug, "Yeah, well I flew over there. And if you think the extra fees for getting your pet to fly are bad you should see how much they charge to get your old station wagon on the plane." Dona laughed and Eric smirked a small smirk that diminished more when he looked back down and began to speak again, "Plus you know, this car got a lot of memories. Some I that I was trying to leave behind."

Donna instantly picked up on what he was saying—the memories he was trying to leave behind were the memories he had with her. A light shade of concern appeared on her face as she looked at her seat, "Oh. Right. Do you want us to get up…should we…I…"

"No." Eric replied without missing a beat, "We always had some of our most serious talks here…it's kinda fitting to be sitting here now, huh?"

"Yeah." She agreed with a nod.

Eric gave his own nod before deciding to take the reins of the conversation, "So, read any good books lately?"

"Yeah." Donna answered holding in a laugh as she took the reins right out of his hands, "But that's not what I want to talk to you about. Randy and I made up."

Pretending to act like this was big news, and he hadn't even know the pair had been fighting, Eric raised his eyebrows hoping to appear surprised, "Really? And the wedding's back on and everything?"

"Yeah." She replied not being able to contain a small smile.

"That's great, that's really great Donna." He said no longer pretending to be anything, he really was happy for her and it was then that he realized he hadn't gotten to say so before and so he smiled at her and said, "Congratulations."

She smiled back at him, "Thanks."

"And you know the best part is that Randy figured all of this stuff out all on his own." He said hoping to get Randy a few extra points but at the same time feeling quite curious over whether Randy had told her about his help, "He came back her on his own. And got you guys back together on his own."

"I don't know about al on his own." Donna said her faint smile playing on her lips, "He mentioned something about a little bird helping him out."

Hearing this caused Eric to sit straighter up in his seat. He hadn't been expecting Randy to tell Donna that he had helped, he'd been willing to be seen as the hidden helper who got the pair back together; but learning that Randy had told Donna the truth about his help made him quite happy. It also gave him some hope in his own relationship with Donna being patched up.

"Oh yeah? Did he happen to mention how intelligent and handsome this little bird was?" he asked with a smug look crossing his face.

The blonde laughed a quick laugh, "Yeah, something like the bird wasn't all that modest."

Together the pair shared a laugh and suddenly the awkward atmosphere started to diminish; they felt comfortable with each, feeling like they were sitting with a friend and not a person they hadn't spoken to in three or so years.

"Thanks for going to talk to him, Eric. It really means a lot." She said sounding very genuine in her voice before changing to a more questioning one, "But I still gotta ask, why did you do it? I mean going to talk to your ex-fiancée's new fiancé and getting him to get back together with her…they don't just make guys like you anymore."

Eric smiled at her questions, it's why he could always picture her in journalism, she always wanted to know more even after the big picture had been given to her. "Not since 1960." He said in reply to her comment that followed her query, "We're kinda a limited edition."

More of the awkwardness faded as they shared smiles but Donna, like any good reporter, wanted her answer.

"So?"

"I don't…I don't know." He replied; he knew why he did it but putting it into words that made sense especially when telling them to the woman they most concerned—not the easiest task. But he was going to try his best. "I mean I guess because I was part of the reason you guys were arguing in the first place…"

Donna frowned as she interjected, "Eric, you weren't…"

"Well I felt like was." He interrupted her back, "And so I felt like I should do something to try and fix things. Plus you took the time to com out here and be with my mom and wrote her those letters from before. I really appreciate that." He made sure she knew, making her smile slightly, "But I guess the main reason was because…well Randy…he makes you happy, right?"

"Yeah." She nodded not being able to contain her smile when she simply thought of her feather haired fiancé, "Yeah he does."

Seeing Donna's smile grow—even though he knew she wasn't think of him—made Eric grin as he gave her the final part of his answer, "You always looked the prettiest when you were happy. I want you to be happy, Donna."

Touched by his words, Donna looked eyes with him and smiled, "Thanks Eric. And I want you to be happy too. ..even if it is with Jackie."

The drop in Donna's tone of voice was snot missed by Eric. He scowled but before he could say anything Donna spoke up, apparently she'd noticed it too.

"I didn't mean it like that." She tried to justify herself.

"Oh so you didn't mean it like, I want you to be happy with anyone but Jackie but since you are, I guess I'll have to be. Or at least pretend to be. Well that is good to know, Donna." He said he voice leaking with his sarcasm and budding anger.

The blonde frowned not liking his tone one bit, "Eric, if you would just let me explain myself."

"Okay." He agreed with a nod and gestured with open palms, "Explain."

Donna took a deep breath and shifted her eyes to the hedge that separated The Forman house and her house, well he old house—she really did miss that place. "It's just seeing you and Jackie together…romantically is…is weird." She said after struggling for a better word.

Eric gave a untrue smile as he wagged his finger at her in response to her use of her 'large' vocabulary, "See that's why they pay you the big bucks at the newspaper." He smiled at his own joke but the death glare she sent his way quickly caused his snarky-ness to fade and he put away his finger and spoke in a more sincere tone this time, "Sorry. I'll try to tone down the sarcasm."

"Thank you." She sounded very appreciative before she tried to explain her feelings once more; this time keep her eyes on Eric and not her childhood home, "Look Eric, before you we went out before, we kissed on the hood of this car, before any of that you were my best friend. And Jackie's been my best friend for a long time too—even if I didn't realize it till years later. And I'm happy that you guys are happy but the fact that you guys are making each other happy…that's what gets me so confused and causes me to act like…the way I have been."

With a concentrated frown creased on to his forehead, Eric followed along with her words and suddenly began to understand things a lot more.

"I mean you guys hated each other when we were younger." She continued on.

Eric shook his head, "Donna, we never hated each other."

"Eric, you used to refer to her as the devil." Donna reminded with an unconvinced expression her face.

"So?" he shrugged, "I call Laurie the devil all the time but that doesn't mean I don't love her. She's my sister. 'devil' is like a term of endearment from me."

Hearing this explanation from Eric only made Donna's frown deepen, "So when your kissing Jackie it's like your kissing your sister Laurie?"

Eric's eyes widened and bulged out Donna almost thought they were going to pop out of their sockets like a cartoon character, "What?! He screeched, "How did that…I…No! Oh God!" he felt sick by the thought alone and covered his face with his hands.

"See that right there!" Donna pointed to his reaction, "The way you're feeling about you kissing Laurie…"

"Oh God! The image!" Eric groaned in disgust, now only covering his eyes with his hands—pressing down hard as if that would help the picture get out of his head.

Donna ignored his complaining and went out with the point she was trying to make, "That's how I feel about you and Jackie being together. It's like how you felt when Jackie and Hyde first got together."

"But…" Eric said, very cautiously removing his hands from his eyes, "They were creepy and unnatural. We're not…are we?"

"To me you are." She answered honestly before adding a more hopeful comment, "But that'll change."

Despite Donna making that effort to add the last line it didn't make Eric feel any better, mostly because he didn't hear it. His mind was still wrapped up in the fact that he and Jackie were the new Hyde and Jackie. Their relationship hadn't been accepted by the group and his and Jackie's relationship wasn't exactly welcomed with open arms either—at least not by Donna and Hyde. And while Eric was sure Jackie and Hyde had had their moments their break up was a messy one.

"Jackie and Hyde broke up." He said his mind still focused on that thought.

"I know." Donna bit her bottom lip nervously and nodded, "Not the best example. But you eventually got used to the idea of them being together and were happy for them, right?"

"Yeah…" he nodded, leaving out the part that it had taken quite a bit of time for that to happen. "Wait so does that mean you'll be happy for us?"

She nodded again, "Eventually."

"That works." He agreed.

"But Eric, I think you should talk to Jackie about Hyde." Donna continued, her voice sounding serious again.

Eric became confused, "What about him?"

Donna shifted in her seat, this wasn't the easiest thing to say and she didn't want it to cause more tension in the family but it was for that same reason that she made herself say the words, "Just make sure that she's over him."

"But she is over him" Eric was quick to answer but a small part of him couldn't help but wonder if Donna knew something he didn't. "They've been broken up for years and they don't exactly get along very much lately." He said hoping to convince her an that little part of his doubting self.

"Yeah, but they didn't exactly get along in the first place either. And Jackie's always kinda held a torch for him." She reminded him of those days when she pretty much stalked the curly haired rebel and ended up getting him arrested, "Plus we haven't been here. They have. They've been living together in one house and who knows what could've happened. I'm not saying this to upset or even worry you, Eric. But when you fall in love with a girl it's like you skydive out of a plane and don't bother to check everything before you do. This time, before you jump I think you should do go over that check list, to keep yourself from slamming into the concrete ground and getting hurt."

A smile stretched onto Eric's lips, "Now that's why they pay you those big bucks." He said this time without a trace of irony.

She smiled back at him, "Thanks. I'm trying to help you the way you helped me with Randy." She added, hoping she believed him and didn't t really think this was some kind of trick to break him and Jackie up. She wasn't too keen on the idea of them as a couple but Eric had helped her with her happiness and she wanted to return the favor. He deserved happiness.

"Yeah, I got it." He nodded and his smile and the look on his eyes told her they were okay, "Thanks."

Nodding again, Donna decided to change the subject of conversation, "So have you thought about what's gonna happen after…"

Shaking his head form left to right Eric interrupted her before she could finish, "I haven't thought of any 'after,' Donna. 'After' isn't even in my vocabulary right now. I just wanna focus on _now_ and spend as much time as I can with my mom."

Donna gazed down at the faded hood beneath her, she almost regretted bring up the somber subject but it did open the window for her to tell Eric the words she'd been wanting to tell him since first seeing him at the beginning of this visit. "Eric, I know you're going through a tough time right now and I just want you to know that I'll be here for you. I love you."

Eric's head shot up a hearing this and he looked at Donna with an expression of confusion and what looked a bit like fear, it made her let out a small chuckle.

"You know, in the same way that you told Donna you still love me." She assured and immediate Eric relaxed.

Being loved by two women could be fun but they did not need any more drama around here.

"Thanks Donna, that does make me feel a lot better." He shared with her and she smiled, "Now can I ask you a question?"

"Okay." came her reply.

He placed his hand under his chin and did his best to sound like a questioning journalist, "What do you think of me being part of your wedding?"

Donna laughed at his actions rather than his question, "Do you want to be part of my wedding?"

"Well yeah." Eric said as Eric and not reporter Eric, hoping he wasn't too out of line with this question, "I mean I know the big parts of eth bride and groom are already taken—which is good because you know me as a groom and white isn't really my color—but I'd be fine with a smaller role. I mean we're friends and you put friends in your wedding."

"Most of my friends are gonna be wearing blue bridesmaid dresses." She informed with a smile.

"Well see, that works out perfectly because I've actually been told blue looks great with my skin tone."

His words caused Donna to laugh right out loud and soon he was laughing along with her. The she reached over and gave the side of his head a slight shove. Surprised by the action, Eric looked at her and found her grinning, his grin grew and he returned the playful shove. And just like that it felt like it was 1978 again.

0o0o0o

"Whatcha you doing?"

The little voice startled both of the men who were usually collective, strong, and not easily surprised. However this time, they had been focused on their task that when they heard the familiar voice sounding so close to them they jumped up a little more than they would have liked to admit. And of course it didn't help their pride any when they turned their heads to look behind them and found a petite brunette giggling away.

After walking Angela out to her car and waving her off, Jackie had hurried back into the warm house mad her way to the kitchen. She was partly hoping to find Eric in there having finished with his talk with Donna so that he could tell her what happened and they could spend sometime together. She knew it sounded selfish, especially with the situation the family was in, but she felt like she had hardly spent any time with him, or maybe she had but she wished they could spend a few more moments together, she hadn't realized it when they were younger but talking about serious stuff or just plain silly stuff Eric Forman was good company.

There had also been another part, a smaller part, of Jackie that had hoped she would run into Steven in the kitchen. She knew they needed to have their own talk and now that she'd spilled the beans about the whole stripper thing to Angela, now that she'd told a part of his past that he and all of them tried to forget ever happened to someone he was hoping could be part of his future, Jackie knew that talk had to happen soon.

And to say she wasn't expecting to find Red listening in on the conversation going on in the basement would have been a lie. She saw that determination in his face and she'd guessed it before he even started! But she definitely had not been expecting to find both Red and Hyde listening in on the conversation with the ears pressed against the drinking glasses that they held up against the wall.

Catching the men, who would get after her and Kitty when they gossiped or stuck their nose in other people's business doing that exact same thing, Jackie knew it was too good of a chance to pass up and if Kitty weren't ill in bed she'd be right beside her in making sure the boys knew they had been caught.

What had surprised Jackie was how little it took to make them react the way the had; their reaction had sent her into a fit of giggles that she still couldn't get out of.

"We're uh checking for termites." Hyde told his amused ex-girlfriend with a frown. Why was she still laughing? It wasn't that funny.

Once Jackie was able to contain her laughter, though her smile stayed in place, she crossed her arms with a skeptical look on her face as she glanced at the glass in his hand and then back up at him, "With your ear pressed against a drinking glass?"

Hyde shrugged his shoulders, "Best way to do it." He said remembering another one of the lines Red had given him earlier.

But of course, it didn't fool Jackie Burkhart either.

However instead of arguing further with Hyde, Jackie turned her attention to the older of the two men—who'd gone back to listening with his household hearing aid, obviously not caring much of what it was that Jackie thought. She stepped closer to him, uncrossing her arms only to put her hands up on her hips.

"You're really listening in on Laurie introducing Lucy to Fez, aren't you?" she questioned, already knowing the correct answer but wondering if he would admit to it right away.

Reluctantly, Red pulled his ear off the bottom of the glass and scowled in Jackie's direction, "If I say 'yes' will you go away?"

"Nope." She waited not a second to reply with a single head shake, "_But_ I won't tell Mom or Laurie. _If_ you let me stay and listen too. Deal?"

"Fine." Red was quick to agree, though not in the happiest of tones, so that he could go back to his listening. "Just be quiet."

She gave an affirmative nod, "Okay. Scoot over."

Jackie gave Hyde a shove that surprisingly enough, considering her small size, was able to move him enough to give Jackie some space to squeeze in and take a place near the basement wall. But she didn't stop there, not only did Jackie take Hyde's space by the door but before she started listening in she grabbed the drinking glass out of Hyde's hand and used it as her own.

Hyde frowned at his hand that was still in the form of holding the now gone glass before looking over at Jackie, "Hey, that's my glass?"

Removing her ear from the glass and giving it a look over she shrugged her shoulders and looked at Hyde, "I don't see you name on it." She commented and then went back to her eavesdropping position.

"Jackie, I was using it." Hyde argued not caring that he sounded a bit childish, mostly because he didn't think he did,

"And now your not." She said her raven hair whipping behind as she straighten herself up once more, "Just get another glass."

Hyde continued to stand his ground over the simple drinking glass. "I don't want another glass. I want the one I was using. You get another glass."

"I'm not getting another glass…"

That was the last clearly heard line before it all became a jumbled up mess of fighting words coming from both Hyde and Jackie all over a drinking glass that had several look-alikes in the cabinet a few feet away. Red tried his best to ignore the disagreeing pair and it worked for awhile until the already muffled voices coming from his glass became drowned out by the pointless argument and that was when he had had enough.

With a scowl in place Red marched over to the pair who didn't notice him until he began to speak and they silenced themselves.

"That's it! Give me that." He ordered and Jackie swiftly placed the glass in his waiting hand; using the same hand that held onto the glass he pointed at the two, "Now both of you have to get another glass. And after you do I want you to shut it or I'll shut it for you. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." They both replied sounding and looking almost like soldiers who had just been given a command.

Once Red left them alone and went back to trying to hear what was going on downstairs, Hyde and Jackie scurried over to the kitchen cabinets where the glasses wear kept. They hurried over there looking like they were competing again and if they were, Hyde had won that race. Of course the only reason for hi success was because Jackie got distracted. On her way to the cupboard she caught the sight of Eric and Donna sitting on the Vista Cruiser talking and laughing and she suddenly found herself feeling jealous.

She wasn't jealous of Donna though, she was jealous of the relationship the two had. It wasn't that she wanted her relationship with Eric to be like that but she wouldn't have minded if her relationship with Steven was like what she was seeing out in the driveway. Donna and Eric were broken up and though they hadn't been on the best of terms before watching their interaction from afar Jackie had a strong sense that that had changed. With her and Steven since they had broken up there had been only a few moments where they were able to forget about their pasts and how they'd hurt each other and had been able to be friends.

But it never lasted very long.

"Looks like they're having a nice talk." A deep voice said from behind her.

Jackie turned around and found Hyde standing there with a glass in each hand, she quickly turned back to the slide door, "It's just a talk, Steven."

"Yeah, I know." He said sounding as Zen as ever, "That's why I said 'having a nice _talk_,' Jackie."

Her mismatched eyes focused on Eric's smiling face outside as she folded her arms over chest, "Yeah, well…I guess they're able to still be friends after their break up since they were friends before they got together. We were never really friends were we?" she looked at him again but found his shaded eyes focused on the scene in the driveway.

"I don't even know what we are now." came his Zen reply.

The two perfectly shaped eyebrows wrinkled close together as she stared at him, but he never glanced her way like she want him to. Jackie at last tore her eyes from him when the shrill ring of the telephone filled the room. Red wasn't going to answer it, she knew for a fact, and getting Steven to answer the phone on his own, well you had a better chance of finding him listening to country music than you did finding him answering the phone.

Letting out a deep breath, Jackie brushed past Hyde and took one more look at him before grabbing the receiver off the hook and up to her ear.

"Hello, Forman Residence." She greeted the person calling but the next sounds that came from the other line made her feel confused and maybe even a little scared, "What? Who is this? I.. I don't understand." She said as her frown deepened and she became silent, listening to the other person on the other end, but she was still lost.

Hearing the commotion going on behind him, Hyde turned around and found Jackie standing with the phone next to her ear and a scowl on her face. As soon as Jackie saw him looking at her, she saw her way out and with a shake of her head she pulled the recovered away from her and stretched the spirally cord so that Hyde could grab the phone.

"Steven, here. I can't understand a word they're saying." She explained her face suddenly scrunching with disgust, "They're all cry-y and boogery!"

Hyde took the phone but only because it looked like Jackie was going to drop it on the floor, fearing that the germs form the boogery person on the other end would get on her. He gave Jackie one more frown before taking the call.

"Hello?" he spoke into the mouth piece and the next thing he heard very much fit the description Jackie gave. The person calling was definitely crying, sobbing more like, and it was causing them to be sniffling and blowing their noses in what Hyde hoped was some type of tissue,

"Hey buddy, you gotta calm down. Who're you trying to talk to?" he paused and waited for a response but the one he was given only mad him front more, "Alfred? Look man there's no Alfred here…wait…" Hyde looked at his father still listening with the glass at the wall. This person call had to be someone who had heard about Kitty's condition and that's why they were calling and Alfred did kinda sound like Red…."Um here Red, I think it's for you."

Red scowled at the yellow phone Hyde was handing out to him, "Who is it?"

"Some crying dude." Hyde informed with a shrug, "Can't understand what he's saying."

"Hang up." Red barked back, not wanting to deal with any crying people especially not over the phone.

"Come on man, that's meaner than the both of us put together."

"Fine, give me that." Red grumbled and at last moved away from the basement door and grabbed the out of his adopted son's hand; however before he took the call he looked at the two in the room, "But you two go take over there and listen in—and don't start arguing about it."

Not needing to be told twice Jackie and Hyde each grabbed a glass that Hyde had placed on the counter seconds ago and hurried over to the listening post while Red dealt with Weeping Winnie.

"Yeah, what do you want?" Red spoke into the phone, dismissing the quick 'hello' greeting; the other person said something on his end and though Red's frown diminished some, he did roll his eyes, "Oh, hi Bob."

Hearing Red greet his former neighbor, Jackie and Hyde exchanged looks. The man had been a blubbering mess when they'd talked to him not more than a minute ago, sure he couldn't have gotten a hold of himself so quickly. How did Red know it was Bob so quickly? They kept one ear on the glass but were suddenly much more interested in the phone conversation happening before them.

"Yeah, yeah." Red nodded, "She's uh…she's doing okay….Uh huh. Right." He seemed to just be giving short answers that agreed with what ever Bob said, at least until Bob said something that shook Red from his zombie like replies, "What? No. No Bob, don't come up here."

His voice was firm as his argued with his old friend trying to keep him from making a trip to Point place, the last thing he needed was another person staying in his house. This was worse than it was when the kids were younger at least back then they all had their own houses to go back to. And of course back then Kitty wasn't sick.

"Listen Bob, if you come up here to pay us a visit my foot will be paying a visit to the inside of your ass. Got it?" Bob said something else and Red sighed thinking more about the ill woman sleeping upstairs than whatever the crying man on the other end had said, "Alright, we'll see you tomorrow."

As soon s the phone was hung back up on the hook Jackie and Hyde pulled themselves away from the wall and looked at Red. Though there was no need to ask what Bob had said, they'd heard the most important part about Bob coming to town, there was still one question on their mind.

"Red, man, how'd you know it was Bob?" Hyde was the one who asked the question.

"I lived next door to the man for over fifteen years." Red explained, "Half the time he sounded like that anyway."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__There you go, Chapter 49 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_How are things going down in the basement with Fez, Laurie, and Lucy? Will Eric be part of Donna's wedding? Will he have to wear a dress? What will things be like when Bob gets there? Who told Bob what was going on? Will Jackie be able to tell Hyde about her spilling the bean about the stripper? And is Jackie really over Hyde? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_So what did you think of the chapter? Good? Bad? Happy it's back? Or not so happy? Lemme know!_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	51. Go Down There Now

_**Disclaimer: **__i own nohing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello all! How are you? Hope you're doing well! Enjoying your long weekend? Or are you still stuck going to work/school? If so, I feel your pain. But hopefully here's a little something to make your Monday bright or to give you something to read on your day off. A new chapter of 'Two Weeks' Yay! Right? lol A couple of things I wanted to say before we begin this new chapter. first off thank you so very much for all of the wonderful reviews that you left on the last chapter! They were all so very sweet and I'm so happy that you all are happy to have this story being updated again! Your words not only made me smile but encouraged me to work on this story some more. Thank you! Also a great big thank you for following this story whether you're a new reader or not but especially those who have been with the story since the beginning. We're fifty chapters in people! Can you believe that? I seriously wouldn't be here posting the fiftieth chapter if it wasn't for you all both new and old readers from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU! Another thing. I apologize for the slightly shorter chapter. I had another scene in mind but I think it might fit better in the next chapter and not adding that scene this time actually led to the chapter being posted sooner! So it's a good thing right? No? Okay, I'll try to make the next one longer. As always please remember ri am not a doctor or learning to be one. Still watching and loving reruns of House MD though I am missing season 8 but there's no Huddy so I'm not in a big rush to get it but anyways! Thanks so much for all of your support! It truly means a lot! Please leave a review if you have the time, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Thanks so much for reading! I hope you like! And as always, please, Enjoy!_

* * *

_Hyde got ready to ask his next question, it was his turn after all. Since Jackie's previous question and a few more before that one, Hyde had realized maybe Jackie did have a few good questions to ask their surrogate mother, and they did help spawn off some new questions from him, so they made another deal. They would go back and forth taking turns asking Kitty one of their questions and were allowed three vetoes. And to be fair, three vetoes were also given to Kitty though they doubted she would use any of them. Who knew how long they'd be able to carry on this plan before Hyde and Jackie would burst into an argument about the questions or someone taking over the other's turn; but so far, so good. _

_And since Hyde was sure Jackie would handle the questions that dealt with romance, Kitty and Red's life together, and the like, Hyde decided to keep his questions on other topics._

"_So between both your parents, who'd you have a closer relationship with?" he asked._

"_My father." Kitty quickly replied with a smile on her lips, "Both Paula and I were very close to Daddy. I guess it was because well, I wouldn't say because he was the better parent—which was true, but I would feel right saying it—but I think we were closer to him because he was easier to talk to you. Though to be fair there are only a few people who are harder to talk to than my mother, and on that list includes people like Hitler and Castro."_

"_We would talk to Daddy first because we knew he wouldn't yell at us. He never yelled…well he did but it was rare and he had the kind of voice that when he raised it you knew you were in deep trouble." She continued on, letting out a light giggle that made Hyde curious to know if she'd ever gotten into deep trouble and heard her father's raised voice directed at her._

_Her smile stretched as she thought about her departed father and she spoke again before Hyde could find out the answer to the question in his head, "Daddy was a wonderful man. He could do anything and I remember ever since I was a little girl I'd seen him as a kind of Superman."_

"_Wasn't he an alcoholic?" Jackie asked frowning in her seat on the sofa._

_Kitty's laughter stopped and her face fell, "My father was not an alcoholic."_

"_I don't know, Mom." Hyde began to say, not one to usually argue about this kind of stuff buy Jackie did bring up a valid point that reminded him of something his friend had once said, "Forman used to describe his grandparents as 'Grandma yells and Granpa drinks."_

_Releasing a small sigh Kitty shook her head, "Well I guess Eric described them that way because unfortunately that was how they usually acted by the time Eric met and got to know them. But they weren't always like that. Especially not Daddy. Though after all those years of living with my mother…well I think that would be enough to drive anyone to the bottle." _

"_But when we were growing up he didn't do very much drinking. I think because my mother was the stricter parent, Daddy thought it was his job to be the fun parent who tried to help us understand our mother and made sure we knew we were loved by both of them. And of course he continued to do those things even after he started with his ten A.M. cocktails."_

_Hyde nodded his head. He was familiar with those ten A.M. cocktails from Edna…well they weren't so much cocktails as cans of cheap beer—but same dif. And Hyde was glad Kitty didn't have to go through any of that as a kid. Deciding to bring her mind back to more pleasant memories of her father, Hyde asked another question._

"_So your dad was okay with you marrying Red?"_

"_Well he never said he was against it." She answered, "And anytime that we saw my parents he and Red would talk and seemed to get along just fine. Which of course made me very happy because I wanted my two favorite men to get along. And I had a feeling they would since they were alike in a lot of different ways."_

_Jackie wanted to make sure she was understanding this correctly so she asked, "Your dad and Red?"_

_Kitty nodded, "That's right. I've always thought that that saying about how women tend to marry men who are like their father is true. Now it doesn't mean that the man is going to look exactly like their father and he probably won't act exactly like him either but the way a father treats his daughter, and his wife, his family, that raises the daughter's bars for what she wants in her own husband. My father was a hard working man who provided for his family, he made us laugh and made sure we knew we were loved, everyday…"_

"_Yeah expect for the hard working and providing for the family, I'm not seeing too many similarities to Red, Mom." Hyde interjected with the comment that made his mother scowl his way._

"_Steven, you kids know that you all are loved. Red just shows it in a different way. His own way."_

"_By yelling?"_

"_It shows he cares." She said almost too quickly. _

"_Huh ,if that's the case then I guess we were wrong all those years. Laurie's not Red's favorite, it's Forman." Hyde said with a laugh that Jackie soon joined in on._

_Kitty glared at the camera until the chuckling died down and she began to speak again, carrying on with the notion she was trying to make, "But the point is, when I married Red he not only met those bars but went above them too. And he made me happy, still does. And I think that if Daddy ever did have something against Red that's why he never said anything. Because just like we mothers, all fathers want is for their children to be happy."_

_0o0o0o_

Several minutes had passed since Bob Pinciotti's phone call but the scene in the avocado colored kitchen remained the same. Red was back at the basement door, his ear pressed against the glass that was between himself and the wall, still trying to hear the conversation that was happening down in the lower part of the house. Hyde and Jackie were standing infront of the kitchen sink, the drinking glasses still in their hands but they didn't have it in their hearts to go and join Red in the eavesdropping.

Of course, just because they were standing beside each other didn't mean they were talking to each other. In fact, since Hyde's remark about not knowing what they were anymore—excluding Jackie's order to get the phone—they hadn't said a word to each other. They just stood there, awkwardly; not more than a foot away from each other, their gazes on anything but the other. A tense silence filled the room and it soon became too much for one of them.

"Jackie, look…"

"Shh!"

Both heads swung to where the hissing noise had come from and found Red glaring at them before going back to listening in on the basement. Jackie frowned slightly, and so did Hyde, but neither bothered to argue. They knew it wouldn't be worth it. Instead they silently agreed to his order and went back to trying to have a conversation.

Hyde took a breath before starting over, this time using a soft whispering voice, "Jackie, I…"

But that was as far as Hyde got before he was interrupted by the glass door being slid open and two smiling faces joining the room.

"Hey guys." Eric greeted the pair, Donna stepping in right behind him.

Jackie smiled when she saw him. It wasn't just because of the smiling reflex that was starting to form every time she saw him but because she was thankful for the interruptions. She had no idea what Steven was going to tell her but she wasn't sure she was ready to hear any of it.

"Hey." came Hyde's zen greeting.

Truth was he was just as relieved as Jackie. He knew what he was going to say but he wasn't sure if he was ready to actually come out and say it.

Looking at the former lovers Jackie could see that the tension that had been between them earlier was at last resolved and she was glad—for the most part. Keeping her eyes on them she whispered, "Are you guys okay?"

Eric looked at Donna who in turn looked back at him and they shared a smile.

"Yeah." Eric nodded now looking back at Jackie, "We are."

"Good." She said, her voice still soft.

Feeling confused Donna scowled at her friend and the low tone of voice she spoke in. This was Jackie Burkhart standing infront of her, wasn't it? But when had Jackie ever whispered? Donna was a little surprised to find out that the feisty, normally loud, petite woman even knew _how_ to whisper. Sure things had changed and if Jackie and Eric were now some sort of item things about Jackie must have changed; but even falling for Eric Forman couldn't cause Jackie to speak in softer tones…could it?"

She had to find out and so she asked, "Why are you whispering?"

"Cuz you don't wanna know what happens if you don't." Hyde replied for Jackie, his tone sounding similar to Jackie's.

Eric wasn't really listening to the conversation going on between the three. He'd started to but the sight of his father holding a drinking glass up to his ear and leaning close to the entrance of the basement stole his attention. It confused him and had him a bit worried too.

"Um guys…what's wrong with my dad?" he questioned, his whispering tone telling his friends that he was paying more attention to them than they thought, "He looks like Kelso did when we tried to convince him that the furniture in the basement came to life whenever we weren't in there and he tired to catch them in the act."

The story caused each of the group members to smile at the memory.

"He's listening to your sister introduce Lucy to Fez. She wouldn't let him down there." Jackie went on to explain in a whisper to both Eric and Donna.

"Ah. That makes more sense." He said while moving his head up and down, "Less funny but more sense."

Hyde nodded in agreement when a sudden thought entered his mind, "Hey Donna, your dad called, he was pretty emotional and Red was real happy about that." He whispered, smirking as he recalled Red's annoyance. Even if it did force him to listen to a crying Bob it was a pretty good burn overall.

Donna frowned whispering back, "My dad called?"

"Said he's coming in tomorrow."

"He is?" she asked feeling surprised and puzzled, forgetting all about how they needed to whisper.

Though Red didn't say anything—yet—from the corner of his eyes Hyde could see the older man sending a glare their way. Hyde was also getting tired of the whole whisper thing and seeing the nearest exit he went for it. Hyde slid open the sliding door open and then gestured to others to go through. One by one they filed out onto the patio with Hyde going last and shutting the door behind him. It was cold out there, after all it was winter in Wisconsin, but they had more important things to discuss than the weather.

"My dad's coming to town?" Donna asked as soon as they were outside—she sounded not only louder but more confused as well.

Catching Donna's confusion caused a scowl to intent itself onto Hyde's forehead, "He didn't tell you?"

"No. I haven't even talked to him." She replied trying to figure out why her father was coming now and why he hadn't told her before; deciding she could use her friends' help she shared more details with them, "I mean I called him before I left to let him know I was gonna be here but I didn't tell him why."

"Why not?" the younger woman curiously asked.

The blonde shrugged, "Well you guys said you were already making all the phone calls and said we shouldn't go telling a lot of people about what was going on…wait a minute. You guys didn't call my dad? Why wasn't he on the list of first people to call?" her rage building up as she stood up for her father who had been a big part of The Forman's life.

"Nah man, there was no list. It was just you guys and Red and Laurie." Hyde explained calmly, getting Donna to do the same, "We were trying to get the rest of the you here so Mom could see and spend time with you guys."

With a perplexed frown drawn on Jackie's own face she nodded along with her ex's words, "But if you didn't call Bob and we didn't call him either… you think Laurie did it?"

"Either that or Red's got another brother everyone forgot about." Hyde commented, only half joking.

Standing on the sidelines with his arms folded over his chest and a smirk playing on his lips, Eric enjoyed watching his friends try to fit the pieces together. Of course he knew there was something he was going to enjoy a lot more. He gave them a few more seconds, waiting to see if they could come up with the answer all on their own but the only thing that came was silence. It was then that he decided it was time.

"Or perhaps its much more simpler than that, my dear Watsons." He said in his best British, Sherlock Holmes impersonation; their frowns led him to going on with his account, "You see the person who called and informed Mr. Robert Pinciotti about the current situation 'twas I."

Donna frowned at the little bow Eric gave them "You called my dad?"

"You?" Jackie was somewhat shocked.

Hyde smirked, "Man, Red is gonna kill you."

"Exactly." Eric agreed with a proud smile that matched his tone of voice, that is until he realized what his adopted brother said and his smile swiftly dropped and his tone of voice changed, "Wait! No! No, my dad is not gonna kill me. I mean yeah, he's gonna be upset and I'm not gonna come right out and admit to him that it was me that made the call. I'm not that big of a dumbass." He reminded before turning serious, "But I think once Bob gets here and you know…a couple of days after that, Red'll appreciate him being here."

"Yeah and then he'll kill you." Hyde finished for him and both girls couldn't help but nod along.

"No, no." he shook his head trying to figure out a way to get them to understand why he had called Bob and why he thought it was important for him to be here, "Look you're here and you guys are my friends and having you guys here not only means a lot to Mom but it's helped me out a lot too." He confessed and the other three smiled smile or various sizes, Jackie's being the biggest and Hyde's the smallest.

Eric continued on, "And I just figured it might be a good idea if Red had some friends here to help him out. And well…Bob's the closest thing he has to that."

This time all three of them nodded, not only because they agreed what Eric had said about Bob being the closest thing to a friend that Red had but because they understood why Eric had called Bob and approved of the idea. Almost simultaneously the group of four turned their heads to look back into the kitchen at the father figure with his ear still pressed against the glass cup. They had no idea how he was going to take Kitty's death and they weren't looking forward to it but they were each hoping that Eric's idea would work and Bob would be of some help. Whether it be with comfort or distraction.

0o0o0o

"Amy is at home with Kat cuz cuz she gets car sick. And they're friends. So so I only brought Emma, Paige, and Holly. Cuz they're friends. But they're all friends." Lucy repeated the story that she had told her grandparents earlier but this time she was sharing the tale with her father who's lap she was still seated in.

Fez was completely captivated by her ramblings though and he listened with a more than willing ears. He nodded along every so often and his smile seemed to grow with each passing minute. He loved hearing her talk, he loved seeing the excitement in her eyes, he loved learning more about her. He'd only met her a few minutes ago and it had to be no more than an hour since he was given the news that he was a father, but already he loved this little girl. His little girl.

Sitting beside the two was Laurie who was still wearing her faint smile on her lips. She wasn't paying much attention to what her daughter was saying—she'd been there when the story took place and had heard it at least twice on the car ride over her—instead her attention focused on what her eyes could see. The interaction between Lucy and Fez, the way Lucy was so comfortable with Fez, the look of adoration and happiness in Fez's eyes; she really was feeling some remorse for not telling Fez about Lucy sooner for the benefit of both of them. However, she did remind herself that if she had told Fez sooner then the beautiful scene happening before her wouldn't be taking place at all.

Not everybody thought the scene was too beautiful though, they didn't seemed to find it all that entertaining either.

The Kelso Family were farther off to the side of the sitting area. Kelso was in the lawn chair with his own daughter perched on his lap, while Brooke stood behind them watching the scene and appearing to be the only Kelso that was moved by the sight.

"And then Granma said that Granpa is gonna take me to the store and and and get me a _new_ doll!" Lucy excitedly shared with a large smile.

Laurie stayed smiling but couldn't help but roll her eyes at how, even while ill, her mother was trying to spoil her granddaughter. Meanwhile Lucy's father just found more joy in her happiness.

"Really? That sounds very exciting!" he said and she eagerly nodded her head up and down, "So you like candy, ponies, dollies, and the color pink. What else do you like?"

The little girl pondered the question before giving a nervous reply, "Um…candy."

"Candy is on your list twice?" Fez asked as his grin doubled in size, "That's my girl!"

Lucy broke out into giggles at the proud tone her father spoke in before wrapping his arms around in a tight hug. She once again began to feel more comfortable with him and so decided to share more about herself.

"Dancing." She said in a small voice.

Her tone had been so light Fez wasn't sure he had heard her. He gently pulled away from the close embrace and looked at her with a curious frown, "Dancing? You…you like dancing?"

"Mmm hmm."

"Will you dance for us and show us some of your moves?" he asked not being able to help how thrilled he sounded.

Hearing this request caused the smile on Lucy's face to fall and her brown eyes filled wide with fear. Fez instantly saw this but luckily he did not have another panic attack like the one he'd had before Laurie and Lucy came down. Having his daughter in his arms made him much calmer than he ever would have imagined. And so instead of going into an alarming state he tried to fix his mistake.

"It's okay, it's okay." He tried to soothe her worries, "You do not have to dance if you do not want to." He assured and felt her relax again; he smiled, "I like to dance too. And I have some pretty good moves myself."

Then for the first time since Lucy had climbed onto his lap, Fez removed his hands from her so that he could place his right one on his hip and raise his left one in the air—one finger pointing up—striking the famous disco pose. The move made Lucy laugh and clap her hands in amusement.

Lucy wasn't the only one who found the little dance amusing, Brooke too found herself smiling as she looked on and thought about some of the foreigner's famous dance moves. He did have some twinkle toes and she usually had fun when ever they shared a few fun dances. Michael wasn't a bad dancer either but he was no Fez. He didn't have twinkle toes but he didn't have two left feet either he just…well he liked to do his own thing and sometimes that was bit hard to keep up with let alone follow.

Suddenly Brooke's thought were interrupted by a child-like whine coming from the lawn chair.

"This is boring!"

The librarian looked down at her family in the chair. Her eyes were big but not filled with anger, she was feeling more surprised and hoped that the statement had gone unheard by the other family in the room.

"Michael!" she scolded.

"What?" he asked innocently, "It wasn't me."

Brooke stared at him, unimpressed, "Yes, it was."

"Fine!" Kelso agreed, not putting up much of a fight. Though he did have quite a show, stomping his foot and crossing his arms as he leaned back in his seat; there was also the fact that the tone he agreed in sounded more like a child being forced to agree on something rather than adult who had admitted to something he'd done. "But I'm not the only one who thinks so, right Betsy?"

With her elbow propped up on the arm of the lawn chair and her cheek pressed against her balled up first, the youngest Kelso nodded her head in a very bored manner.

Kelso unfolded one arm to gesture at his daughter, "See!"

Brooke didn't see the point he was trying to make and shook her head as she spoke in her mothering tone, "Well then you should have listened to me earlier when I told you to go upstairs and watch cartoons there."

"But we didn't wanna go then." Kelso muttered back.

Being the more sensible one, Betsy lifted her head and looked up at her mother, "Can we go now, Mommy?"

"Um…" Brooke said not sure of what to say; her first thought was to give them the okay so Fez could have this private time with his daughter but with Red listening in at the door, if he still was, it might not be the greatest idea, "I don't think that would be the best idea right now, honey."

"Aw man!" came the disappointed cry.

"Can we watch cartoons here, Mommy?"

The word cartoons perked up Lucy's ears, reminding her of something else she liked. She looked at her dad and smiled, "I like cartoons."

"You do?" he asked and though he shouldn't have been very surprised, after all what child didn't love cartoons, he'd reacted as if he'd just been told that there was a real Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory that looked just like the one in the movie.

"Which is your favorite cartoon? Is it Bugs Bunny? _Eh…What's up, Doc_?" Fez pretend to hold a carrot as he gave his best Bugs Bunny impersonation, "Or Donald Duck? _Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy_!" he imitated the Disney character, "Or my personal favorite, _Scooby Dooby Doo_!"

Both young girls enjoyed the show that Fez put on; they laughed and happily applauded. Hoping he'd do more. Even the older girls were impressed by the impersonations. One of the spectators, however, didn't find the performance all that grand.

"What? That's not Scooby Doo. This is Scooby Doo." Kelso cleared his throat before doing his best to copy the famous canine's voice, "_Scooby Dooby Doo_!"

Kelso's imitation was good though appeared weak when compared to Fez's.

"That is not Scooby Doo!" Fez argued, "That is Scrappy."

His opponent's mouth dropped open, "Ah! No way! That's not Scrappy that's totally Scooby!"

Fez shook his head, firm on his argument, "No. that is The annoying, wanna be second banana, Scrappy."

"But I'm Scooby!" Kelso stated.

Fez glared at his friend, "No , I am Scooby. You are Shaggy."

Very slowly, the deep scowl on Kelso's face stared to fade and became replaced with a weak smile. He looked over at his best friend and shrugged almost bashfully.

"Actually that does kinda fit." He admitted nodding his head slightly.

The two men then shared a small understanding smile and suddenly their fight was over just like that. Enjoying this topic of cartoon characters, Kelso lifted Betsy and carried her over to the sofa so that the two of them could sit next to Lucy and Fez. Seating himself in the empty spot right beside Fez, Kelso placed Betsy back on his lap and picked up the conversation.

"Okay girls, check this out who am I?" his tone was full of excitement as he asked his question; he cleared his throat again, "_I'm strong to the finish, cause I eat me spinach, I'm Popeye the sailor man! Toot Toot_!"

Again the girls giggled with delight and while Kelso waited for their guess, he hadn't realized he'd given away the answer already, Fez shook his head disappointedly.

"Popeye, Kelso? Really?"

"Man, they were supposed to guess!" Kelso replied not catching his friends apathetic tone right away, though when he did he quickly jumped in to defend the sailor hero, "What's wrong with Popeye?"

"He is a one eyed sailor with balloon shaped arms!" Fez declared.

"Oh yeah? Oh yeah?" Kelso said, shaking in his seat as he got ready to deliver this line, "Well Scooby Doo isn't a dog, he's a scaredy _cat_!"

A loud gasp came from Fez's mouth before he pulled himself back together and shouted back, "Popeye eats _vegetables_!"

And in that next instant another one of Kelso and Fez's useless little debates started. This time it was over who was the better cartoon and they weren't stopping with just Scooby and Popeye. They threw in points about various other famous cartoon characters while talking over each other and occasionally doing their impersonation of the toon. And then having arguments about who's impersonation was better. Now any other kids who would have gotten caught in an argument between their fathers—literally too—would have been frightened or nervous but both Lucy and Betsy were laughing enjoying themselves as the watched the production.

The moms on the other hand, didn't seemed all too thrilled with the little fight but they didn't appear too upset either. Brooke clasped her hands together and watched the familiar scene on the couch as Laurie stood up off the couch and walked over to where Brooke was, joining her in overseeing the argument.

She crossed her arms over her chest and scoffed, "Can you believe these guys are the fathers of our kids?"

"Yeah," Brooke agreed with a light laugh, still watching the view, "They're pretty great aren't they?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Laurie remarked with a shrug of her shoulders, though truth was, she couldn't agree more.

"You know, as strange as it may seem for these man-children to have their own children it's really not all that weird." The taller woman mused out loud, grabbing Laurie's attention right away, "I mean Michael loves Betsy and Fez has always been so good with her too. I guess since they're big kids themselves they're able to understand the kids better. Fez really does seem to be doing good with Lucy and she's seems to be doing really well with him too."

Grinning Laurie turned to Brooke for a moment, "Right?" she shook her head and went back to watching her daughter and Fez, "I mean I was nervous about how she was gonna react because she usually isn't too good with strangers. But I guess meeting a bunch of new people these past two days helped. Well either that or she and Fez instantly created some magical bond thing." She ended with a laugh.

"Well I actually think it could be either of the two. Fathers and daughters really do have a special kind of bond." Brooke commented before elaborating some more, "I see it all the time with Michael and Betsy. Even though both of us will do anything we can to give her the best life possible, we take care of very different things concerning Betsy."

"I get the boring stuff like making sure she's fed, brushes her teeth, and does her homework; Michael on the other hand, well his biggest concerns are doing things that will make her laugh." She continued, signaling towards the couch and at the giggling children. "Trying to make sure she's happy and doing whatever he has to to protect her from whatever he thinks she needs protection from. The relationship between a father and daughter can be kind of magical."

Brooke's words hit Laurie and she had a sudden realization. But it had nothing to do with Lucy or Fez.

"Uh yeah." She said her voice suddenly going soft, "I'll um… I'll be right back."

Not even waiting for a response from Brooke, Laurie turned herself around and headed up the basement staircase.

She had been expecting to find her father with his ear leaning against the wall near the basement when she opened the door. She even thought there was a possibility that when she opened the basement door he'd come tumbling over. But neither one of those things happened. When Laurie pulled open the door, Red was nowhere near it.

Instead she found him standing in the middle of the empty kitchen—he must have stopped listening not too long ago, since the drinking glass was still in his hands. He appeared lost in his thoughts as he looked around the room; Laurie wondered if he was thinking about her mother and how the room wasn't the same without her in it. That was the thought she had every time she stepped in it now. However, she didn't wonder too long about what he was thinking and even threw out all of her own thoughts from her head as she wordlessly walked up behind her father and threw her arms around his waist as she hugged him tightly.

Her actions caught Red off guard and he had to double take when he saw the figure hugging his side was a young blonde woman. He couldn't see her face since it was buried in his chest but he knew exactly who it was.

"Laurie? What're you doing up here?" he asked with concern until a thought popped into his mind and he filled with anger, "Damn it! What did Alibaba do now?"

Keeping her arms in place, Laurie moved her head so that she could rest her cheek against her father, "Nothing, Daddy. He didn't do anything. Everything's fine."

"It is?" he asked and though he didn't get a verbal reply he felt her move her head up and down, "Is something else wrong?"

This time she shook her head, the material of his shirt rubbing against the side of her face.

"You sure?" he questioned and when she nodded again he felt a feeling of relief and was able to enjoy the hug from his daughter; he put his own arms around her and couldn't help but ask, "What brought this on then?"

Laurie looked up at him, "I just love you, Daddy."

Red gave a slight frown when he heard her words. He knew that, she didn't have to tell him; though when he thought about it, it was kinda nice to hear.

"I love you too, kitten." He said as he pulled her closer to him.

"And thank you." She added.

Now Red was really confused, but again didn't comment on it, "You're welcome." He said not quite sure of what she was thanking him for.

They stayed hugging for a little while longer until Laurie realized she really needed to go back down there in case Lucy started to freak out; though she didn't think it was very likely, why take the chance? Father and daughter shared a smile before Laurie started to head back down stairs. Red silently watched her leave until he thought of a question that he had to know the answer to.

"Does that mean I can go down there now?" he called after her.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__And that would be Chapter 50 of "Two Weeks" Hope you liked!_

_Will Bob's visit help Red? How will Kitty react to Bob coming to town? Are Donna and Eric really okay? Will Jackie and Hyde ever be okay? What was Hyde going to tell Jackie? Is Red now allowed to go down in the basement? And who is the best cartoon character? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_So what did you think of the chapter? Yay or Nay? Be sure to lemme know!_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	52. How About Them Packers, Huh?

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone! Long time no see huh? Especially for this story! I am so sorry that it took me so long to update it. But you know how it goes, real life gets in the way, other stories take up your time, and a discouraging review had hit me pretty hard. But I would like to thank all of you who helped me through that. And also thank all of you who asked me about this story and when it would be updated—it made me remember people DID want to read this story. Thank you to those who have reviewed, even while the story was on hiatus, you reminded me that people are still reading this story. And mostly thank you to all of you who have come back to read this newest chapter! I really hope that you enjoy it! I certainly enjoyed writing it and not only that but it helped me get ready to write more for this story, so they may not be weekly updates but I promise you faster updates than before will be heading your way! I hope you enjoy this chapter and please do review, I'd love to hear your thoughts whether you're a new or loyal reader :) Quick thanks to Marla's Lost for helping me with picking a date of posting again and I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day and Weekend! Thanks again everyone for everything, it really means so much. Please review if you can, hope you like, and as always, Enjoy!_

* * *

"_How would you describe Red?" Jackie asked when Kitty was finished answering Hyde's latest question, but before her question could be answered there was an interruption from the man behind the camera. _

"_What kind of question is that?" Hyde asked with a frown on his forehead._

"_It's a good question." The brunette replied while glaring at the lens of the camera, "A question that I thought of and asked because it's my turn."_

_That statement along with the threatening look Jackie was sending his way should have been enough to shut Hyde up; but of course it wasn't._

"_It's a lame question, Jackie."_

_Jackie titled her head and smiled slightly, "Well would you like to use one of your vetoes, Steven?"_

_Hyde wasn't sure what he found stranger Jackie's suggestion or the sweet but not so sweet smile on her lips; however he was sure of what he found the strangest which was how easily Jackie had given up on the question and been ready for him to veto it. Jackie had never been one to give up on anything so easily and the questions she'd come up with before—and fought for—proved that this situation would be not different. But why was she suddenly giving up so easily now? _

_Maybe it was because she wasn't giving up…maybe she was trying to make him think she was giving up…maybe she was trying to get him to use up his vetoes right away so he wouldn't have any when the questions he really wanted to veto came up. _

_Hoping the camera covered his suspiciousness, Hyde focused on Jackie, "I don't know…would I?"_

"_I don't know." She answered back sounding and looking confused, "Would you?"_

"_You tell me Jackie, would I?"_

_Her brows knitted closer together, "I don't know, they're your vetoes, Steven."_

"_Are they?" Hyde suddenly asked making Jackie flashback to the times when he would rant on and question the government, "Or are you trying to make them your vetoes by making me use them up right away on your make believe dumb questions so you can ask your real dumb questions without me vetoing them."_

_At first Jackie is surprised by such a suggestion but then she started to think it over and with an arched eyebrow she realizes it may not be the worst idea._

_Seeing this, Hyde couldn't help his little outburst that followed, "See you were thinking of it."_

"_Steven I wasn't thinking of anything until you put the idea in my head…"_

_That was the last understandable line that was heard before it became a jumbled up argument that Kitty could only make out a few words from. Some of these words were not the nicest and were definitely not the kind of words that she wanted any of her future grandbabies or later generations hearing. And besides at this rate, her video would have more footage of these two scrabbling than it would of her answering any questions._

"_If the two of you don't stop arguing this instant you'll each be losing a veto that I'll get in return." Kitty threw at them, quickly getting them to end their spat. All three of them knew how valuable those vetoes were. Noting that her adopted children hadn't exactly made up but had at least stopped arguing, Kitty softened her voice as she went on, "Now Steven, do you or do you not want to veto Jackie's question."_

"_No…I guess not." He muttered behind the camera._

"_Okay then. You've got to let Jackie ask her question then, alright?" the camera unhurriedly moved up and down making Kitty grin before she turned to Jackie, "Now Jackie, sweetie, what was your question again?"_

_Remembering the professional interviewers, Jackie sat up straighter and repeated her question, "How would you describe Red?"_

"_What do you mean dear?" Kitty questioned with a faint frown._

_Hyde was just as puzzled, "Yeah, 'red' as in what? The color?"_

"_No. Red as in her husband." Jackie glared at him, knowing he was trying to make her question dumber than it was._

"_Oh." Hyde said, "Would've been more interesting if you said the color."_

"_Mom!" Jackie whined with annoyance._

"_Steven." Kitty chided lightly _

"_Come on Mom, you gotta admit it's a stupid question. The kids watching this video are gonna know who Red is, they don't need to hear a description of him." came Hyde's comment from behind the camera._

"_You don't know that. They might not get to meet him at all." Jackie argued, not realizing how morbid her words were until she had said them; she looked over at Kitty with nervous eyes and quickly tried to recover, "Or you know they might want to hear how you would describe him, Mom, since you know you were married to him and all…"_

_While the words were being said to Kitty, she didn't seem to be paying them much attention and instead was lost in her own thoughts regarding the question, "You know Jackie, you may just be onto something with this question. After all Red can be a bit of a challenge to understand but if anyone knows him best I like to think it would be me." She laughed lightly, "I think if I did give my description of Red it could help future generations understand him a bit better…it might actually help you kids too."_

"_Exactly!" Jackie grinned brightly._

_Though it wasn't caught on film, behind the camera Hyde was shaking his head and giving Jackie a look that said he knew that Kitty's thoughts were not even close to the ones Jackie had for the question. The only way any future viewers would know of such look would be by the glare Jackie was giving back at the camera._

"_So, how would you describe Red?" Jackie asked, forgetting about Steven and focusing on Kitty._

_The older woman frowned a bit, "Well I think I've actually described him a little bit in a few other questions before so I hope I don't repeat myself…"she ended with a small giggle._

"_Okay well what three words would you use to describe him?" Jackie edited the question just a tad._

"_Oh that's good!" Kitty praised and Jackie's grin grew while Kitty thought over her response, "Now lets see…three words that describe Red…well I think the first word would have to be strong. I've known he was strong from the moment I met him and he pulled me up to my feet with one strong pull."_

_Jackie's brows furrowed with her puzzlement—she thought the Formans had met when Red punched out a marine who was bothering Kitty. She looked at Hyde to see if he would explain but he just kept on filming and Kitty kept on talking._

"_And he fought in two major wars, coming home from them both with only a few minor injuries. He also suffered that heart attack years ago, remember? But that didn't weaken him either. As soon as he was out of the hospital he was back to disciplining you kids and threatening his foot up people's rear ends. Much to his doctor's and my dismay. Red is also very strong physically." Kitty informed with a giggle that neither Jackie nor Hyde wanted to ask more about, "He just uses that line about his bad back to his benefit. Like not helping Bob move or only bringing down the lighter and less full boxes of holiday decorations."_

"_Which brings me to the second word which is stubborn. Red can be very stubborn, sometimes it's a good thing but usually it's not. Especially when he's being as stubborn as a bullheaded mule. But even then you can sometimes get him to give in." Kitty explained herself, "You see, Red's stubbornness is mostly because in his mind what he thinks, says, and does he thinks that's the thing that's best for the family, for him, he think it's the right thing. And more often than not it's not. Which is why you need to be a bit stubborn yourself."_

_She continued on, "And by that I mean being stubborn in the sense that you keep pestering him to do the real right thing. It may take awhile and he me gripe and grumble but he will eventually do the true right thing."_

"_What would the third way be?" the younger woman asked._

"_Wonderful." Kitty answered with a grin stretched onto her lips, "Now I know that's not the most descriptive word but it fits Red. He's a wonderful father. He's wonderful husband. He's a wonderful man. And I can't imagine…I don't even want to try to imagine…what my life would be with out him."_

_With her smile now in a tighter form and her eyes misty she added, "Red really is a completely and utterly wonderful man." She paused for a split second, "Although I could do with a less stubbornness."_

_The laugh and smile coming from her surrogate children told Kitty that they were all on the same page._

_0o0o0o _

After solving the mystery of who called and informed Bob Pinciotti about the current situation, the gang split up. Not because they were looking for more clues—the mystery was solved after all—but because they didn't want to turn into giant popsicles out on the back porch. They didn't think staying in the kitchen with Red was the best idea either. Listening in on the events in the basement suddenly didn't seem so interesting or exciting to any of them, not even Hyde, and going into the kitchen with no intention of eavesdropping or being quiet would only lead to more shushing from Red. Plus he didn't seem like too big of a fan of Bob coming to town so the four decided would probably be best to leave him alone, for their own safety but mostly Eric's.

To get back inside they had to take the longer route of the backyard to get to the front door. Once they were inside Donna smiled at her waiting fiancé before joining him on the sofa. Having no where else to go Hyde followed Donna but instead of the sofa seated himself in Red's chair, arms crossed over his chest. Meanwhile Jackie and Eric took advantage of this drama free moment, or at least this moment filled with less drama, and headed upstairs for some overdue alone time.

Smiling at the fact that they could actually spend a few moments together without a mini-chaperone or any groceries to unload or even worry too much about their exes, Jackie and Eric held hands as they quietly walked past Kitty's room and into Jackie's.

That's where they were now. Sitting on the bed, Indian style, infront of each other.

"I still can't believe that you were the one behind the phone call to Bob Pinciotti." Jackie said, the look on her face backing up her words.

Eric smirked, "Pretty smart idea, huh?"

"We'll see." She said with a shrug of her shoulders.

That small action caused Eric's smug face to quickly depart. Jackie did not seem to have noticed his fallen smile as she examined the material of the purple comforter she sat on top of, she didn't see him nodding his head either, and only looked up when she heard him speak again.

"And it was with that bout of confidence that he knew he was sure he had done the right." He spoke in third person with a clear sarcastic tone.

Jackie tilted her head to the side, rattling it slightly as she stared back and looked at the narrator, "Look Eric, it's not that I don't think it was the right thing to do. It's really sweet that you called your dad's friend to come and help him out. You were thinking with your heart." She smiled at him and he returned it until hers flattened some, "I just don't know where your brain was."

He was a bit stunned by her words, his smile was wiped off his face, but he came back and defended himself the best way he knew how, "Well I usually like to keep it in my head…"

"You invited _Bob_ _Pinciotti_ to stay in your father's house." She interjected his cynical comment with an obvious reminder, "His house that's currently filled with people he didn't invite."

Eric frowned, his brows scrunching closer together as he listened to her words, "Well when you put it that way…Oh God what did I do?" he questioned with a groan while covering his face with his palms; he was finally beginning to see what his friends saw when he told them he was the mastermind behind the call. "Red's really gonna kill me isn't he?"

His answer was a mere shrug that didn't seem to make him feel much better but did give him a bit of a fighting spirit.

"No, no! You know what? He's not gonna kill me. He's not gonna hurt me." He argued with a straight pointing finger, "And if he does get mad, I'll just explain to him that I got the idea, that it might be nice to have Bob here, when I was talking to Randy and he brought up Bob's name."

She tried to follow along with his plan, "So what you're saying is, if your dad gets mad when he find outs, you're gonna blame it all on Randy?"

"That's the plan." He gave an affirmative nod.

Jackie neither agreed nor disagreed with Eric's plan. She only giggled a bit which Eric took to mean, she would probably do the same thing if she were in his place.

"So." She began once she managed to control her giggles, though her grin remained painted on her lips, "You called up your dad's best friend and got him to come up here for a visit. You also made things better between you and your ex-girlfriend and even got her fiancé to come back and put their wedding back on." her smile grew little by little as she went over his accomplishments of the day that by the time she was done her grin had doubled in size. "You're really on a roll today, aren't you?"

He gave a smug smile, "That I am. Think it was that two pieced prize I got this morning." He said referring to the pair of socks he'd found when talking to his sister in this very room hours ago, "Which reminds me. I think my recent good deeds of today should have earned me a prize or three."

"You thought right." Jackie replied slyly.

Eric watched Jackie with a smile. He had been expecting her to get off the bed and head to the secret place where she'd hidden his luggage, he expected her to even try to negotiate what three piece of luggage he would be getting this time; what he hadn't been expecting was Jackie slowly moving closer and closer to him until her lips covered his. However, just because was not expecting the acting didn't mean that he didn't welcome it. He soon cupped the back of her head and returned the soft kiss.

Unhurriedly they pulled out of their kiss but their faces remained only inches apart.

"I was actually thinking more pieces of my luggage." Eric admitted to her, "But this works out much better."

Though he tried to go in for a second kiss, Jackie reached over and placed a hand on his chest to keep him from following her as she moved back to her original spot that was a little bit farther away form him.

"Actually you're still getting your two pieces of luggage." She informed him with a smile, "I just thought you deserved a kiss too. You did good, Eric. So, you get a kiss and two pieces of your stuff."

Eric smiled a flattered smile but soon replaced it with a confused frown, "Wait…two?"

He could have sworn he would be getting three things. He'd done three good things. Called Bob. Talked to Donna. Got Randy to come back. That was three shouldn't he get three prizes too?

"Bob's visiting being a good thing isn't a done deal yet." Jackie was quick to explain.

In response he gave an understanding nod until a new idea popped into his head, "Okay. Well what happens if I trade in my luggage pieces for a few more kisses. And I don't mean the kind Fez probably has hidden somewhere in the basement." He made sure to add before she got any ideas.

Jackie was surprised to hear him make such a suggestion. She knew how important his luggage was to him and how much he wanted to get it all back, though she had a feeling it wasn't the only thing that was giving him the push to do the good deeds he'd been doing. Still it was his stuff and she was sure he wanted it back—she knew she would if the roles were reversed. But here he was willing to give it all up for another kiss from her…it seemed a little odd but at the time so romantic.

"You'd do that?" Jackie asked in a soft voice.

"Yeah." He nodded, "I mean I've got at least an extra pair of everything now. I'll just wash one outfit while wearing the other and switch them back and forth for as long as I need to."

She laughed, knowing his words were meant to make her laugh and not hurt her, "Nice try, but no."

"Can't help a guy for asking."

Silence. An easy silence but silence nonetheless.

"So…"

"So…" she repeated.

"Are you gonna get the two piece of luggage or is this another scavenger hunt?" he asked once again referencing the socks that he'd had to search for earlier.

Scowling, Jackie shook her head, "I can't give you your clothes now."

"Why not?"

"Because," she started, "then you'll see where it is that I hid your bag."

"So it is in this room?" Eric asked ready to start scoping the place out but replaying her words he realized what she was getting at, "Wait…I… Jackie, don't you trust me?"

He knew it wasn't the best question to ask after his previous statement but he still had to ask it.

"Eric, it's not that. It's just…" Jackie tried to figure out the way to phrase her words, "Showing you where all your stuff is would be like showing Fez where all the Halloween candy is, days before Halloween. It just wouldn't end well." She explained hoping he understood and wasn't hurt; she smiled playfully and went on, "Plus it would ruin my fun of keeping your Spiderman underwear from you."

"Okay, fine." He said, actually sounding quite understanding and reasonable, "But means that in the meantime we get to return to the prize behind curtain number one."

In the next moment Eric had dropped his back onto the mattress, taking Jackie along with him. She smiled at his actions but the smile didn't last very long since her lips were soon caught by his in another sensuous kiss. It took almost all of Jackie's willpower to force herself to pull her mouth away from his.

"Eric, Eric." She called a bit breathlessly as she stayed in his arms and looked in his eyes, "As much as I'm enjoying what's behind curtain number one…this is the first time we've been together alone. Where we don't have to really worry about anyone or any groceries. It's just us. Don't you think we should…talk?"

"Talk?" it sounded like such a foreign word in this moment of wanting nothing more but to kiss the beauty lying beside him. But this was what the beauty wanted, "Um yeah okay, yeah."

With a nod of his head he slowly sat himself up and Jackie propped herself up on her elbows smiling up at him.

He gave her his own smile and cleared his throat, "Hi."

"Hi." She grinned.

"Okay! Good talk!" he declared before dropping back into his previous position with his arms around Jackie's small frame and his lips pressed on her soft lips; this time though Jackie was able to pull away much faster than before.

"Eric!" she called, sounding more frustrated than actually angry.

Her tone was enough to make Eric control himself and forget about the kiss and the embrace. He pushed himself back into the sitting position that he'd originally started with, "Okay, alright. You want a real talk. Okay." He pondered a few seconds before asking, "So uh…did you talk to Hyde yet?"

Of course the topic she didn't want to talk about at the moment would be the one he brought up first. Maybe she could convince him to go back to kiss…like he'd need much convincing! No, no they really did need to take advantage of their alone time and not spend it all kissing…though spending a good portion of it that way wouldn't be so bad. But first the talking part. First work then play.

She bit her lip nervously, "Well…kinda…sorta…"

"Well…kinda…sorta…" Eric repeated, "Translation: No."

At first Jackie sent him a death glare but it softened when she realized he was right, slowly she sat herself up, "We did start to talk earlier and he looked like he was gonna say something to me in the kitchen but then you and Donna walked in."

"Oh man, I'm sorry…" he started to apologize.

He knew how nerve wracking the start of that conversation could be—he'd just gone through it with Donna—and he'd interrupted which not only meant that the whole conversation had gotten dropped but that Jackie and Hyde would have to go through that whole awkwardness again when they finally got the chance to have their own talk.

"No, Eric, don't apologize." Jackie cut him off before he could add anymore; she placed a hand on his thigh as a bit of reassurance, "If anything I should be thanking you. I didn't know what Steven was going to say and I really didn't know what I was gonna say either." She drew in a shaky breath, "Eric, I did something."

"What did you do?" he asked, his tone sounding of a mix of confusion and concern.

Jackie stared at him appearing quiet nervous, "I messed up."

Eric couldn't help the grin that popped out on his lips as he repeated his question in a much more amused voice, "What did you do?"

"I told Angela about Sam." She came right out and said it.

"Oh Jackie…_No_!"

"I know, I know." Jackie repeated over and over again as she covered her face with her hands and then removed them again to look at the shocked looking young man next to her, "I haven't talked about her in almost three years and when I finally do it's to the girl that Steven actually likes. He might have even have had a chance with her until I bought up the bimbo whore."

Perplexed, Eric focused on one thing, "Three years?"

She nodded and then began her explanation, "Yeah. Me and Steven and your parents too, we don't talk about 1979. Especially since your mom got sick and Steven and I started to spend more time together so we could be here for your mom. 1979 has too many bad memories and everything was weird, everyone was acting so strange. Michael was actually being responsible, your parents were thinking about selling the house. You were off riding elephants in Africa, Steven was married to a stripper, and I was dating Fez. The only normal one was Donna and that's only because she's still doing what made her strange in 1979 so it's become normal—which is dating Randy."

This time it was Eric's turn to nod as he watched Jackie lift her hand up to her head run her fingers through her dark hair in a frustrated manner.

"Ugh, I didn't even mean to say it. I was just venting about Steven and it just came out." She tried to explain and let out a sigh that Eric couldn't tell if it was caused by stress or sadness, "Steven's gonna hate me even more now."

"Hey, hey, he's not gonna hate you." He said in a soft tone as he moved an comforting arm around her shoulder and gave her a tiny smirk, "You're Jackie Burkhart. No one can hate you."

Jackie was quick to respond to this statement as she moved her head up and down, "That's true. Even the people who say that they hate me are really just jealous. And if they really did hate me, they'd love to hate me which still means they love me." She concluded with a small shoulder shrug.

He loved her confidence and was a bit envious of it too.

"See. Besides, this is Hyde we're talking about. The only emotions he knows are anger and zen." Eric pointed out making the corners of Jackie's mouth twitch, "So first he'll probably be angry at you but then change over to being zen towards you and you can totally out-zen him."

Her eyes lit up, "Really?"

"No." he said with one shake of his head, "But see that's the kind of confidence boost I was talking about before."

Letting out a small laugh Jackie swatted his index finger that was pointing at her and Eric continued on.

"But seriously, I really do think that your talk with Hyde will go fine." He said in a tone that was filled with sincerity squeezing her a bit closer to him with his arm that was still around her, "Things'll work out."

"I know." She answered with a nod.

Eric's eyebrow hooked upwards, "You do?"

"Mm hmm." The brunette nodded and her grin grew, "Things will work out because I'm Jackie Burkhart."

"There you go!" Eric cheered her on, not knowing that she wasn't quite finished.

"And because I'm making _you_ talk to Steven for me." Jackie went on to say sounding even prouder than when she said her previous statement.

Confusion was quick to make its way onto Eric's already appalled looking face, "Wait what?" he swiftly shook his head, pulling out of their embrace and scooting inches away from her, "No. No, you…you can't do that. You've gotta talk to him. I didn't make you talk to Donna for me, so why would I talk to Hyde for you?"

"Because when a pretty girl asks a boy to do something for her, he does it." She explained, releasing her little pout for backup.

Eric remained unfazed, "I'm gonna need more convincing than that."

"Eric, everyone knew that you and Donna would eventually patch things up. With me and Steven…you never know what's gonna happen." Jackie's words made Eric frown but instead of saying anything about it, she continued, "Please Eric."

"No, Jackie. I can't...there'd be no reason for me to." He said, hoping she'd understand, "You can talk to Hyde yourself. I know you can. I believe in you." He reached over and squeezed her hand and Jackie smiled, realizing this was just like when she would tell him that she believed that he could go through with his own important confrontation during this visit. "And if you do, I'll be sure to give you a very special reward missy."

Jackie had never been on this side of the reward door but it made her smile grow with interest, "Really?"

"Yup." He said popping his 'p', "I'm talking about my Spiderman underwear."

His joke was obviously successful as a laugh left Jackie's lips and caused her to lean her body closer to his; the sight made Eric smile as he let his own chuckle mix with the sound of her little giggles. When their laughter finally died down, Jackie was the first to speak.

"So this is what it's like to be Eric Forman." She mused playfully.

"Oh this isn't official until Red calls you a dumbass." Eric informed as he played along; his pointer finger rose up it give a helpful hint, "Although I would recommend that you try to stay clear of any dogs or cats. Especially if you're in a car."

0o0o0o

"I'll be right back." Eric assured his raven haired companion as he stepped out of the bedroom that she was still sitting in.

Seated on the bed Jackie smiled as she waved him off and Eric returned both gestures and then softly shut the door close, turning on his heel to face the upstairs hallway. It had been almost an hour since he and Jackie had come upstairs to her room and while they were enjoying this time together they were starting to get a little hungry and knowing that the kitchen had newly stocked groceries had their tummies rumbling even louder.

Being a gentleman, Eric volunteered to go down and get them a snack. He knew there was chance that Hyde would be back in the kitchen and if Jackie went it might lead to more trouble. He meant what he said about believing that she could talk to him on her own—she was Jackie Burkhart, she could talk to anyone whether they wanted to listen to her or not—but he didn't want to rush her if she didn't feel comfortable just yet, she had to be ready to do this. And he also had a feeling that if he let Jackie retrieve a snack for them it would be a healthy, fat free, yuck flavored snack.

Eric's initial plan was to go down into the kitchen and rummage for tasty looking treat for him and Jackie to share; a quick think back to the items they'd put away and he was sure that he'd be returning upstairs with two bowls of a some kind of sugary cereal—courtesy of Miss. Betsy Kelso. However, there was a sudden pause in his plan when he began to walk down the hallway and reached the door to his parents' bedroom.

The door was shut and there were no sounds coming from the other side so Eric figured his mother was resting and most probably asleep. The last he'd seen his father or Hyde they had been downstairs. Red in the kitchen listening in on the conversation going on in the basement with Laurie and Fez and the introduction of little Lucy. Hyde had been in the living room but Eric was sure he'd rejoined Red in snooping in on what was going on in the lower level of the house. Eric did wonder himself how that was going but was wise enough to stay away from the eavesdropping; he knew if Laurie found them—all three of them—he'd be the one to receive her wrath and not Hyde and especially not their father. And while Eric was sure neither one of the two men would have left his mother's side unless they thought it would be okay to do so—or if she'd told them to—he still didn't like the idea of her being there by herself. What if she suddenly started feeling ill and needed someone's help? Or what if she just got lonely and wanted someone to talk to?

Maybe he could just take a peak to check in on her real quick and make sure she didn't need anything. He was going downstairs anyway, he could get his dad or Hyde or anything else she might need.

He glanced over at the door that led to the room his sister had grown up in; he knew Jackie was waiting for him to return with food but he was sure she wouldn't mind if he took a quick detour, especially if that detour included a visit with his sick mother.

His mind was made up.

Without even knocking, Eric took a hold of the doorknob and then began to slowly and very carefully push the door open, not wanting to disrupt his mom if she was sleeping. He took two steps into the bedroom but not one step more, for on the second step he looked up and realized he should have stayed with his plan of cereal fetching.

Inside the room was Kitty, her eyes closed as she laid in bed lost in a deep sleep. That was a sight that Eric had assumed he would see but the one next to his mother's sleeping form was definitely not one he had been prepared for. Sitting at his mom's beside was his father. It wasn't where Red was sitting that was so unexpected, it was what he was doing while he was sitting in the arm chair that caused a mix of emotions to fill Eric as he stood there and watched him.

Both of Red's large hands were clasped around Kitty's frail right hand, he wasn't looking at her and instead had his eyes shut and his head bowed—he looked almost like he was praying. Eric had never seen his father pray, expect when they were in church and there it was pretty much a requirement.

Eric swallowed hard; he felt horrible for walking in on such a private moment and yet he couldn't bring himself to leave the room or even turn away. Red hadn't seemed to notice him though which made Eric's mind tell him to leave and quietly sneak out before he was caught but none of his other body parts were having any of it. It felt like the carpeted ground was actually made of magnets, holding him in his spot infront of the door, and his eyes felt like they had been super glued to image of his parents.

"Did you need something, Eric?"

The booming voice shook Eric from his daze and he noticed that his father's position remained in tact, eyes still closed and everything.

"What?" Eric asked still trying to figure out how Red even knew he was there, "Um, no. No. I didn't know you were in here, Dad."

With his eyes now open, Red looked over at his son, "Well now you do."

Eric couldn't think of a better response so he just moved his head up and down, hoping it looked like a nod of his head. Red continued to watch his son, waiting for him to do or say something else—of course, Eric did not know this and Red's gaze, though neither hard nor soft, made him nervous. He was frozen on the spot despite his urge to pull a play out of the Michael Kelso playbook and run out of the room.

Red had to hold in a frustrated sigh, "Are you coming in or going out?"

"I…I honestly don't know." He answered, still feeling that magnetic pull beneath his feet.

"Get in here." Red ordered, not angrily but being sure to make his tone sound as gruff as he could at the moment.

His son quickly nodded his head, "Yes, sir."

Then just like that the magnetic pull released Eric—it must have been afraid of Red too—and Eric hurried his way to where Red was sitting.

"And shut the door." Red barked, but still didn't sound as gruff as he usually did; partly to make sure that he didn't wake Kitty.

Eric took a jump back before turning back around to close the bedroom door, giving them back a bit of their privacy (at least until another visitor walked in, the house was full of them), and he nodded his head and gave a quick response of, "Right, sir."

Once the door had been shut, Eric walked closer to his parents. He stood right next to Red but wasn't quite sure of what to do next.

Having now let go of his wife's hand now and with his back leaned back in the arm chair he looked up his son, "Are you gonna take a seat or are you gonna stay standing the whole time you're in here."

"I think I'll go ahead and take the seat." Eric replied and then dropped into the empty chair beside Red's.

As the two men stared at the woman sleeping in front of them the room fell into a deep silence. It lasted several semi-awkward seconds before one of them spoke up.

"So um how's she doing?" the younger of the two asked, now looking over at the elder.

Red's gaze stayed focused on Kitty, "She's doing as good as she can be."

"Right, right." Eric said nodding his head, he should have realized it was dumb question, or at least it was phrased in a dumb way; he tired again, "I just meant, how's she doing since she wasn't feeling so great earlier. The last time I saw her was in the morning. I meant to see her after that but then I got busy with other stuff." He tried to explain until he realized that the explanation might actually make things worse so he quickly added, "Not that that other stuff was more important than Mom. I just meant…"

"Eric, just shut it." Red interrupted and Eric did just that, "Look, you don't have to explain to me what you were doing."

Eric's brows furrowed, "I don't."

"No." he replied, "Because first of all, I don't care."

Hearing this response Eric nodded and had to smirk a tiny bit, he should have expected an answer like that. It was nice to see some normalcy from his dad, especially now.

Red continued, "Secondly, I know sitting here and watching your mother go through all of this, knowing there isn't a damn thing you can do to make it stop, isn't the easiest thing to do." Eric gave a mere head nod and Red had to clear his throat before he could speak again—this time making sure his son's eyes met with his, "I'm just glad that you made it back home to be here for her."

"Yeah, yeah, of course." Eric nodded, he knew now was not the time to admit that he almost hadn't come home at all; he wasn't sure if he'd ever share that information with him. "And you know Dad, I'm…I'm not just here for Mom. I'm here for you too."

A small smile formed on Red's lips as he heard his son's words and he nodded while placing his palm on top Eric's knee, "Thanks, son."

"You're welcome, Dad." Eric replied with his own smile and nod.

He wasn't used to being thanked by his father but he liked it. While Red turned his head back to watch Kitty, Eric kept his eyes on Red. They'd just shared a moment, a nice moment and it felt nice, really nice. As the room fell into another state of silence, Eric worried that it might turn things awkward again and the nice feeling would be gone, the father son moment would be gone, and it be back to Red calling him a 'dumbass' so he did what he thought would be best. He broke through the quietness before it could really set in.

"So…how about them Packers, huh?" he asked and when Red scowled at him lightly the only thing Eric could think of doing was to smile back at him.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__And there you go, Chapter 51 of "Two Weeks" At last! Hope you liked!_

_Will Hyde hate Jackie the way she thinks he will? Will Jackie be able to have her talk with Hyde without Eric's help? Was telling Bob about Kitty really a good idea? How are things going downstairs with everyone else? Will Eric ever get his cereal snack for him and Jackie? And how about them Packers? Confused? You won't be after the next chapter of "Two Weeks"_

_Until then thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


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